


Weather With You

by Quicksilvermaid



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bad Weather, Cold Weather, Community: hp_drizzle, Creature handler!Harry Potter, HP Drizzle Fest 2019, Harry Potter Thinks Draco Malfoy is Up to Something, Hot Weather, Light Angst, M/M, Ministry of Magic Employee Draco Malfoy, Ministry of Magic Employee Harry Potter, Minor Character Death, Parseltongue Kink, all the weather really, not drarry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-08-19 02:22:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 29,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20202175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quicksilvermaid/pseuds/Quicksilvermaid
Summary: Flood. Heatwave. Cyclone. Epic storm ready to rip London apart?Something strange is happening to the weather inside the Ministry of Magic...--Featuring magical creatures, Harry wearing minimal clothes, a snarky snake, and Draco Malfoy who is definitely Up To Something.





	1. Tears Fall Like Rain

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to the Anon who prompted 143 (full prompt in end notes as it's a bit spoilery). I had a lot of fun with it, and if you end up reading it, I'd love for you to say hi!
> 
> I've also popped the minor character death in endnotes if anyone feels the need to know that before you choose to read :)
> 
> I need an army to get me organised, so thanks a million to A, who helped me find Harry and Draco, and to D, E, T, E, C, M and B who all gave me different support, cheerleading, beta and alpha checks. This fic is so much stronger because of you.
> 
> Final thanks to dig for being such an amazing mod and making this a very low pressure fest to be a part of.
> 
> Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.

_Day 562_

_Hi Pans,_

_You'll never guess what happened today. Walter, old Walter who made Dumbledore look like a teenager, carked it. He's dead. I've told you how he's always in late, especially in winter. The amount of arthritis he has, it's surprising he can get out of bed some days - could. Strange, you'd think I'd be used to death by now._

_Anyway, I didn't realise until I went by his place after he didn’t come in for work. There were Healers at the door and someone who must be his grandson from the look of the picture he had stuck up on his desk._

_I wonder if they'll reassign me now?_

_D_

~

_Day 569_

_You know, staff hiring practices at the Ministry are particularly poor. Don't give me that look. I am well aware a _number_ of things going on at the Ministry are particularly poor, but this, seriously Pansy. It's been a week. No one's come looking for me to tell me what I'm supposed to do with Walter gone. I mean, sure, it's not like it's hard, you touch the heat panel to make the offices warmer and the cold panel to make them cooler. A trained bloody crup could do it. But still, it's the principle of the thing._

_What if I just walked off the job? Does anyone even know Walter was _doing_ the job?_

_It's the anniversary of mum's passing in a few weeks. I know it's been seven years but it always makes me feel like shit. I wish you could come visit her with me. I miss you._

_D_

~

_Day 593_

_Well, Pansy, it seems that I have _royally_ fucked things up. I know, I know. I can see you rolling your eyes from here, but I'm not being dramatic this time. _

_I went to visit mum and now it's literally - I don't even know how to explain this ... I think the entire Ministry is raining because I'm sad._

_Yes, well done, laugh it up. Get it out of your system. When you've had enough, I'll go on, shall I?_

~

Harry re-cast the Impervius charm over himself and the various crates and containers scattered around the office which he mostly used as a pre-transport storeroom. He frowned up at the ceiling. It had been raining all day. Inside. Normally rain wouldn't bother him, no matter how strange it was for it to be happening in the Ministry. He spent most of his time outside in all sorts of weather when he was on one of his trips, but he had a family of Puffskeins tucked away in his desk drawer and a nest of Bowtruckles sitting in a crate in the corner. Not to mention the Kelpie that was in the tank, awaiting transport to somewhere less populated by vulnerable Muggles.

He glanced across at the beast, seeing it swimming lazily back and forth in its magically-expanded enclosure. He didn't suppose the Kelpie actually minded the rain, though some of the others would be miserable if it went on much longer. Especially because his charms didn't seem to be holding as well as they should.

_Drips_, came a hiss from inside his jacket and Harry loosened the neck of his long, black oilskin to peer inside. Shiny, dark eyes looked up at him as Pheo flicked her tongue out, making her displeasure known.

_More drips. Close. Charm._

Harry chuckled but buttoned his coat back up, spelling the water out of his hair so it couldn't run down his neck to where she liked to wrap herself.

_Better_, came a faint hiss and Harry rolled his eyes at her theatrics.

_Supposed to be a wild animal. No warm coats outside._

_Bite_, Pheo hissed at him and Harry barely held back his laugh. At just under two feet long and noodle thin, she was lucky to be able to wrap around his neck, let alone sink her tiny teeth into him, but he liked to let her pretend she was tough. It kept the peace.

Harry glanced out of his magically spelled window. Normally it showed him images of the Scottish Highlands or the lake at Hogwarts. Now it just showed him the rain. Dark, heavy clouds gathered in the sky and rain fell unrelentingly in big, fat drops. He sighed and looked back around his office, wishing it was only raining in his pretend window, but no, it was puddling on the floors. _He_ at least, had drains in the corner. He'd had them put in the last time he had to hose out the office after he'd had a Hippogriff in it for a week, pending trial. He'd refused to let them house the beast in the Auror cells, instead he'd conjured a huge nest for it and had enjoyed talking to it each day as he filled reports and catalogued sightings.

Harry sighed and pulled the collar of his oilskin up tighter as he decided to head up to the Auror level to see if it was raining on Ron as well.

It was.

'Bloody hell, Harry,' Ron said, when he saw him. 'You look like a drowned rat. Raining down in Creature Control too then?'

'It's raining everywhere,' Cho said, pulling her scarf up higher around her ears as she hunched over her desk. 'I told you that before.'

Harry looked around, seeing most of the Aurors in various states of misery, hands tucked under arms, bulky coats over the standard-issue robes. Some looked to be having better luck than others with their Impervius charms

Harry cast his again, frowning as the magic flickered, seemingly reluctant to take. He felt the lack of raindrops, but the barrier was nowhere near as strong as he was used to.

'Has anyone been in contact with Magical Maintenance?' Harry asked.

Ron shook his head. 'Too busy.' There was a hint of a smirk on his lips and Harry rolled his eyes. Bloody Maintenance, the paperwork would bog him down for an hour.

'Such a fine example of leadership, Team Leader Weasley.'

Ron just reached for a memo template and his compendium of Forms For Every Occasion: A Ministry Guide. He handed both to Harry. Harry grunted slightly under the weight of the tome, then dropped into a seat at Ron's desk. He put his chunky black boots up on the edge as he flicked through until he found what he needed. He began scribbling.

_**INTERDEPARTMENTAL MEMORANDUM**_

_TO: C Baggins, Head of Magical Maintenance_

_FROM: H Potter, Senior Handler, Beast Division_ _RE: Raining in the Ministry_

_Dear Mr Baggins,_

_Please forward the appropriate request form for Reporting Atmospheric Temperature. The whole Ministry seems to be raining. I'm sure you've noticed? It's been happening since -_

Harry looked up, cocking his head at Cho. 'What time did the rain start? I was out in the field until after lunch'

'Ten,' she said in her soft voice. 'It started at about ten this morning.'

_\- ten o'clock this morning._

_Regards_

_Harry Potter_

He tapped the memo with his wand so that it folded into a plane, marked itself as 'General' and shot into the air. Harry thumped the compendium back onto Ron's desk and decided that since he was here, he may as well have his afternoon tea break. He liked spending time at Ron's desk. People didn't bother him here.

It was half-an-hour and two more ineffective Impervius charms later before a soggy-looking plane thumped onto Ron's desk. This one was more like a carrier plane, and Harry unfolded it to see a sheaf of papers, marked RAT at the top. He flicked through what was easily fifteen pages and sighed again, holding them up at Ron.

'You happy?' he asked, shaking them.

'Incredibly,' Ron said, as he rubbed his hands together. 'My fingers are wrinkling. You think I'll catch a cold? Mum always says not to go out in the rain.'

The tip of Ron's nose was red and his hair was plastered to his head in soggy clumps. He looked miserable as he sniffed wetly.

Harry rolled his eyes at Ron's show of misery and looked down at what he'd been given. On top of the papers was a note from Baggins.

_Mr Potter,_

_Please fill out sections 2, 3, 5, 7-12 and 14. Please do not expect a swift response. We have had requests from every level except 9._

_C Baggins_

_With Compliments from Magical Maintenance. Your Ministry Experience is Important to Us._

Harry snorted. Figured the Unspeakables would have their own weather system in place. He screwed the note up and threw it in the bin, then got to work on the form.

~

_**INTERDEPARTMENTAL MEMORANDUM**_

_TO: C Baggins, Head of Magical Maintenance_

_FROM: H Potter, Senior Handler, Beast Division_ _RE: Raining in the Ministry_

_Dear Mr Baggins,_

_It has been two days since I sent the appropriate RAT regarding the weather on levels 2 and 4. I understand you have a backlog to work through, but it is_ pouring. _I think a lake is forming in the cafeteria. Shield charms are only mildly effective._

_I don't want to tell you how to do your job, but_ what the fuck?

_Regards_

_H Potter_

~

_**INTERDEPARTMENTAL MEMORANDUM**_

_TO: H Granger, Something Unspeakable_

_FROM: H Potter, Senior Handler, Beast Division_ _RE: What’s the secret?_

_Hermione,_

_Ron tells me you don't have a monsoon on your level. What's the secret? I have vulnerable creatures to look after. Pheo keeps threatening to go for the jugular. Help, please!_

_Harry_

~

Harry was relieved to see Hermione sitting at his desk when he got back from a meeting with Jefferson - _she_ wasn't particularly concerned about the rain. Apparently, the Head of the Beast, Being, and Spirit Division had bigger concerns than some wet Puffskeins and Bowtruckles, which, to be fair, she probably did. Hermione had her hand in the box of Puffskeins and was talking quietly to them. Harry was interested to note even _her_ Impervius didn't seemed to be holding as well as it should.

She looked up when she saw him, and then indicated the water running off the edges of his desk and pooling on the ground.

'I thought Ron was exaggerating,' she said, with a frown. 'How long's it been this bad?'

'Since it started two days ago,' Harry said, sitting opposite her. 'I can't decide if it's getting heavier or if everything is so waterlogged now that the siphoning charms aren't working anymore. Your level is fine?'

Hermione nodded. 'Yes, but that's not surprising. Level nine is cut off from most of the main Ministry support systems. Too many things that are too delicate for the likes of this to be happening,' she said, waving her hand at the rain with a sniff.

'So do you have any idea _why_ it's happening?' Harry asked.

She shrugged as though the answer was obvious. 'Something's clearly gone wrong with the weather charms. I had lunch with Jennifer from the Portkey office today and she was saying they've had rain the past few days as well. It doesn't seem to be localised,' she mused, looking around again.

Harry sat back in his chair with a huff of frustration. 'I've already reported it to Magical Maintenance. Twice. And by the sounds of it, so has every other level. What the bloody hell are they doing about it? It's literally their job to maintain magical things.'

Hermione nodded her agreement. 'I imagine the system is just a scaled up version of the spells used to heat and cool magical homes. I wouldn't think it would be too difficult to fix.'

A particularly heavy dump of rain fell on them and Harry pulled his collar up irritably. 'Right. You're right. This is ridiculous. I'm going to see them.'

He was surprised to see Hermione stand to follow him.

'Slow day in the office?' Harry asked, knowing she wouldn't tell him anything. She never did.

Hermione just smiled and gestured to him to lead the way.

Baggins was sitting at his desk with a stack of boxes beside him on the floor, and another teetering over him. He looked like one wrong move would have him buried. Harry cleared his throat from the doorway and Baggins started, looking up with a squint as he adjusted his glasses. His eyebrows pulled in disapprovingly as he saw Harry and Hermione standing in the doorway of his cluttered workshop.

'Mr Potter, Unspeakable Granger. This is very irregular.'

'It's raining, Mr Baggins,' Harry said, stepping forward. 'In my office.'

'Yes,' Baggins said, waving at him in a distracted manner. 'I'm aware. It's all in hand, I assure you.' He finished with the sheaf of papers in front of him and picked the whole stack up, dumping them in a box on the floor before pulling another bundle towards himself.

Harry looked around. 'Why is it not raining in your office?' he asked suspiciously.

'Controlled environment,' Baggins said, a hint of smugness in his voice. 'Need to be able to bring delicate items here. For maintenance.'

Harry raised an eyebrow, but Hermione put a hand on his arm. Around his neck he felt Pheo twist against his skin, sensing his irritation. He forced himself to take a deep breath. He knew he needed to keep his cool when he was in the office. He couldn't afford for Jefferson to reprimand him about it again. She'd taken a Chinese Fireball case off him last time she'd decided he was being too antisocial at work.

'Right,' he said. 'Well you carry on with whatever _important_ task you're doing then, won't you, Mr Baggins.'

Baggins cleared his throat and frowned at Harry as if unsure whether he'd just been insulted or complimented. Harry barely refrained from rolling his eyes as he turned away from the man.

'What now?' Harry asked Hermione, but she was already leading them towards the lifts.

They stopped on level one and Harry didn't quite believe she was doing it until Hermione led them up to Shacklebolt's door. His secretary, Lee, looked like he wanted to object, but maybe something in Hermione's face stopped him. Harry wondered, again, just how high up in the Unspeakables Hermione was. She wouldn't even tell him who her boss was.

Shacklebolt was actually at his desk when they walked in, which was unusual. He looked up from the letter he was writing and smiled broadly.

Harry was not, at this point, surprised to see the Minister's office was dry. No one whose office had been raining for the past two days could have that broad a smile. Harry felt like the rain had seeped into his bones. He'd given up earlier that day on trying to hold the charms. Pheo had had many things to say about that, but, to Harry's distinct lack of surprise, had decided not to move from her traditional posture around his neck.

'Harry, Hermione,' Shacklebolt said. 'Take a seat.' He eyed the both of them. 'I think I can guess what you're here about.'

Harry wondered if it was the fact that he was leaving a distinct pool on the Minister's floor that had tipped him off.

'Thank you for seeing us, Minister,' Hermione said, as though they hadn't barged straight in. 'Apologies for jumping up the chain, but Magical Maintenance wasn't able to give us an update and we thought a Ministry-wide memo might be warranted at this point?'

Shacklebolt linked his fingers on the table in front of him. 'Indeed. If I had progress to report, I would have already done so.' He looked at the two of them seriously for a moment. 'Between these four walls, we're not sure how to fix the weather. Investigations into the source of the problem have uncovered that our former PRAT -' at this Harry let out a disbelieving snort.

'Personnel for Regulation of Atmospheric Temperature,' Shacklebolt explained with a small smile. 'Our former PRAT, Walter Jorkins, passed away approximately one month ago.'

'So the weather went haywire a few days ago because no one's looking after it?' Harry asked, not sure what the problem was. They just needed to put another PRAT onto the spell, surely.

'If it were that easy, it would have happened soon after his demise,' Shacklebolt said. 'We believe someone has tampered with the spell. However, the only people who had access to the Atmospheric Settlement Site were the PRAT and his assistant, as well as Magical Maintenance. And Baggins has assured me he'd never been up there in his life before yesterday.'

Harry shrugged, still not seeing the problem. 'So find the assistant, ask them what they did to mess the weather up, and fix it.'

Shacklebolt paused before answering. 'That's where we come to the crux of the issue,' he said.

'Oh no,' Hermione said, looking at the Minister with a growing look of horror. 'The Archives?' Harry turned her, not following the leap of understanding she had clearly made.

Shacklebolt nodded, face grave. 'At least one-third flooded, including personnel records for the past three hundred years. It's somewhat of a disaster. If there is a new PRAT, we have no idea who they are and, unless they come back to the Atmospheric Settlement Site, no way of locating them.'

Harry ignored Hermione's small whimper of devastation next to him as she undoubtedly contemplated the loss of knowledge. His mind was racing ahead. 'Do you think it's malicious?' Harry asked. 'Can you just do a call out, asking for the new PRAT to come forward so you can figure it out?'

Shacklebolt spread his hands. 'I'm sending a Ministry-wide memo today, but at this point, your guess is as good as mine as to whether someone's done this on purpose.'

~

Harry was just about done with the rain. Three days of feeling soggy, with Pheo keeping up a constant litany of complaints, was enough to do his head in. Normally he would have escaped the Ministry for a week, headed to Hogwarts to meet with the Centaurs or further up into the Highlands to catalogue Unicorn herds - anything so he didn't feel like the walls were closing in on him. But it was mid-year report time, and at mid-year report time, he had to do the last six months worth of reporting, which he'd shoved into a drawer and ignored. Not that constant rain was particularly conducive to filling out reports. Harry had tried to explain that to Jefferson, but she was adamant.

'If I let you leave, I'll never see those damned reports again, Potter. You think I haven't learned over the past eight years of this?'

Jefferson might be small but she had a no-nonsense tone that quelled most beasts and which Harry had to actively work to ignore. Paperwork wasn't worth the fight. He saved the fight up for when he wanted to bring in a Chimaera for rehoming, or get onto the team transporting a Sphinx back to Egypt.

Pheo didn't like the reports any better than he did.

_Paper is boring. Cold. Wet here. Go hunt. Drips again. Charm, Green Eyes._

Harry tried to tune her out and focus on what he was doing, but it didn't help that he agreed with most of her words.

He distracted himself by thinking about the weather issue. He had been mulling over Shacklebolt's words from the day before almost constantly. The rain showed no sign of letting up, which meant whoever the Minister had picked to investigate what was happening showed no sign of being competent. Harry scratched a quick memo off to Hermione on his lunch break, tapping it with his wand so that it formed into a boat. He stuck it on the river that was now flowing down the corridor and into the lifts. Her response came back quickly.

_**INTERDEPARTMENTAL MEMORANDUM**_

_TO: H Potter, Senior Handler, Beast Division_

_FROM: H Granger, Something Unspeakable_ _RE: Do we have to do it ourselves?_

_I asked around and apparently the Atmospheric Settlement Site - no, we will_ not _be calling it the ASS - is above the Muggle building that sits on the Minister's offices. It's a little rooftop setup. I think they have a few Aurors on it, but if we take Ron, we should be able to have a poke around. He's out on patrol today. How does tomorrow morning sound?_

_HGW_

~

Harry's boots squelched as he left the lifts. He didn't know if he was imagining it, but it seemed like he was wetter than the others around him. The longer this damned weather issue went on, the more it seemed to be focussing on him, as though the very point of it was to make his life miserable.

_Cold_, came a hiss from his shirt and Harry sighed, ready for the constant stream of the day to continue. _Slimy drips. Hungry. Too many drips. Find cover. Now!_

He stopped his walk, looking down at his chest. Every now and again Pheo got just a little bit too big for her boots and he had to remind her that while they were friends, if she wanted to spend all day using him as a human heater, she had to put up with all the things that came along with it. He refused to be bossed around for the rest of his days by a 40cm long green snake.

_Are you too cold?_ he hissed back down at her, as he began to unbutton his coat.

Pheo stuck her head up, bobbing it slightly as a drop hit her.

_Very cold. Seek cover now, Green Eyes. Too wet here_.

Harry shrugged out of his oilskin, letting it fall to the ground, wincing as the steady stream of fat, heavy raindrops immediately drenched through the long sleeved v-neck he wore. Pheo tried to burrow back under his shirt but Harry hissed at her.

_No, little one. This is the rain. This is the rain I've had to put up with all day, to keep you warm. If you are too cold, you can stay at home tomorrow. Sleep under your light and grow fat eating crickets like little snakes do._

At those words he reached down to the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head, shaking his wet hair out of his eyes as the raindrops hit his bare chest and dripped their path down. Harry ignored how uncomfortable it was to have people's eyes on him, as he stood in the middle of the Ministry Atrium clad just in cargo pants and heavy black boots. He looked down at Pheo, curled around his neck, head drooping as she looked up at him.

_Is this what you prefer, little one? The way it feels when I am_ not_ caring for you?_

_Yessss_, Pheo hissed in contentment. She slithered so she was stretched out across his shoulders and down his arm. Harry looked at her, nonplussed by her strange reaction, and it was then that he realised the rain had stopped. He looked up at the ceiling to see bright sun rays beaming down at him. In fact, the room was very quickly becoming steamy, as the temperature increased rapidly.

There were cries of amazement as people looked around, seeking the source of the change. Harry did the same. A swirl of black cloth caught his eye as someone disappeared into the Floo. He frowned. Strange. Everyone else was rooted to the spot, absorbing the heat and laughing at the way their clothes had begun to steam.

Within a minute, the heat had become oppressive, and Harry was almost glad to have already taken off his heavy coat. People across the Atrium were stripping off jackets and cloaks, opening robes or dissolving their umbrella charms.

Harry cast one last glance at the ceiling and then bent to collect his clothes as he moved towards the Floo.


	2. The Heat is On

_Day 595_

_Right, don't laugh. I feel like all I say to you nowadays is don't laugh, but I can literally picture you rolling off your bed at school with that pig snort you do sometimes._

_So, the rain problem fixed itself ... Or rather my change of mood fixed it. Turns out I've managed to bugger up the Ministry's weather system. Evidence seems to be conclusive that I've linked it to my own emotional state. Just buggering brilliant, really. Couldn't be better. As if it's not the last thing I need - for people to be able to tell what's going on in my mess of a head by just looking up at the ceiling of their office..._

_Anyway, I digress. How do I know that I've linked the weather to myself? Simple, dear Pansy. The evidence is twofold. The first is that when I was fiddling with it a few days ago, trying to automate it, so that I didn't even have to come into work to be able to receive my pissing little paycheck, something ... went wrong. Exploded may not be too strong a word. Anyway, evidently I was distracted, the spell wanted a friend, and here we are._

_The second piece of evidence - and here's where your laughter will come into play - is that the rain has stopped. We have sunshine in the Ministry now. A literal heatwave, in fact. I feel like I'm burning up with it. It's the sort of temperature that makes people want to take their clothes off and lick the sweat from each other's bodies. Turns out, yes, that's a fantasy I didn't know I had._

_Didn't know until Senior bloody Beast Handler bloody Harry Potter got sick of the rain this afternoon and decided to strip his kit off in the middle of the Atrium floor as I was Flooing home. Turns out the weather change is rather instantaneous, when it happens..._

~

The Ministry the next morning was a whole new world. All traces of the rivers that had been travelling down the passageways and the lakes that had been forming in stairwells were gone. Instead, Harry felt as though he'd stepped out of the portkey office at Kuala Lumpur. His trip the year before in search of Demiguises had been one of his favourites, once he'd adjusted to the 80-90% humidity that combined with the heat to smack him in the face every time he went outside. The windows reflected Harry's memories back at him. Everywhere he looked, there was a riot of steamy jungle vistas, rather than the standard open green fields he was used to seeing in the public areas.

He made his way to his office, where he slipped off his oilskin and hung it on the peg behind the door with a sigh of relief at the immediate drop in temperature. He did a quick check on the Puffskein family and then packed them up properly. They were due for transport and release that morning. On his desk was a memo saying he was expected to take charge of a flock of Golden Snidgets as they made their way to Greece via a stop in London. Transporting creatures long distance was always tricky work. Apparition, Floo, and Portkey only worked well on an individual creature, and one that wasn't too big, at that. It took specialised transportation cases with extension and containment charms for creatures that needed to be moved in groups, and the bigger ones tended to be done via overland transport, the way the Beauxbatons students had arrived at Hogwarts all those years ago.

Harry cast cooling and evaporation charms on his rooms, checking the Bowtruckles were still comfortable and making sure the Kelpie's water temperature hadn't risen with the broader temperature change. She seemed fine so far and Harry made a mental note to visit the storerooms later and bring her a bucket of trout out of stasis. He'd already organised to have her shipped out as soon as a transport crew could be arranged. She flapped lazily at him as he walked away, wiping the sweat from his brow.

Damn but it was hot. Harry pulled his t-shirt off as well, leaving a sleeveless black undershirt that clung to his chest. Pheo uncurled from his neck and slid down to wrap around his forearm.

_Heat is nice_, she hissed. _Heat like this always?_

Harry reached out and slid his fingers over her smooth, pointed head.

_A bit much heat for the two legs, little one. Not quite right._

_Shame_, she hissed pensively.

Harry smiled at her and then cast another cooling charm over his rooms before tucking his wand into its holster at his thigh.

Ron was at his desk, also minus his heavy work robes, and Hermione arrived a few minutes after Harry did, her hair a frizzy halo around her head. Ron gave Harry a quick shake of his head when he opened his mouth to say something and Harry bit back his grin.

'Right,' Ron said, mopping his forehead with a towel. He gave them an overly bright smile. 'The roof?'

Harry nodded and the three of them made for the lifts.

_Gentle One looks like a cloud_, Pheo observed.

_Too much heat_, Harry said in response, unable to stop the smile spreading across his face.

Hermione looked at him sideways, but didn't ask for an explanation. They were both used to Harry's sometimes-rambling conversations with the snake.

From the Atrium, Ron let them into a side corridor Harry had never noticed. There were several numbered doors coming off it.

'Service access,' Ron said, in response to Harry's curious look. 'Kitchens, waste disposal, stock orders, that sort of thing.'

He turned to one marked 69 and waved his wand over the lock. It glowed green for a moment before the door clicked open.

Behind the door was a lift. It only had one button, with the word ASS on it. Harry exchanged a grin with Ron and Hermione rolled her eyes at them. Ron pushed it and when the lift stopped, they opened the door to see a large, flat roof space. The cool Autumn air they should have been feeling inside rushed over them and Harry welcomed it after the stifling heat of the Ministry.

Ron nodded to the Auror standing in front of the door with a muttered, 'Jones'.

Hermione made immediately for the large glass dome in the centre of the roof. Inside were a few people Harry recognised only vaguely. From the Magic Reversal Squad maybe?

He stepped inside the dome and looked around with interest. It was about ten metres in diameter and about three high. A large display took up almost a third of the space, wrapping around the wall. It had symbols on it that looked like stylised weather patterns. Around the display were small images, silently moving like clippings from a newspaper. Harry stepped closer, surprised. It was images of each of the main areas of the Ministry. He looked for level four and located his office. The Puffskein crate that he'd booked to be relocated that morning was gone. These were live time images of what was happening inside the Ministry. The idea of that - of being watched - made him feel intensely uncomfortable. He hated people's eyes on him, and to know that he was being watched from up here ... Harry felt his skin crawl, feeling like prey before a predator. Merlin, but he hated the Ministry sometimes.

'You've been unable to locate the source of the issue?' Hermione asked one of the maybe Magical Reversal people and Harry turned to look at them, forcing himself to pay attention.

The man spared her a quick glance, then his eyes widened as he took in the Unspeakables badge pinned onto her black t-shirt.

'No, Unspeakable,' he said, pushing his glasses up his nose with one finger. 'The magic is really old. Hundreds of years. It's surprisingly complex. It seems to be almost ... resisting us, which is strange. There was no sentience built into this system. See here,' he said, indicating the symbols on the display panel. 'It's designed to be operated completely by hand. There has to be a conscious choice by the PRAT in identifying what the weather scenario should be on each level. The magic should just operate to fulfil those commands.'

Harry looked at the man, interested. 'So, do you think this is an accident or has someone specifically tampered with the system?'

'It's definitely been tampered with,' the tech said, pale eyes blinking as he fixed on Harry. 'It seems to be taking commands from some source that's not the control panel. Anything we try to do here is having no effect.'

Harry frowned. Who would want to mess with the magical weather system in the Ministry?

~

The weather seemed to be changing again. The day before it had soared into the high forties, to the level where the Aurors had all been diverted into providing industrial strength cooling charms and the Mungo's staff had been put on alert in case of heat-related collapses. Harry wondered why the Ministry wasn't being temporarily evacuated, until he saw a heavyset, older man with sweat pouring off him talking to a colleague in the cafeteria.

'Matter of pride, it is. Pride. You Know Who couldn't push us out. Little bit of hot weather certainly wouldn't be able to, eh?'

Harry barely refrained from pointing out that the Ministry had basically been infiltrated by Death Eaters at that point and that they'd held the doors wide open for Voldemort to waltz on in whenever he pleased.

Still, it explained why the stupidity was continuing. Harry had cancelled or diverted all his upcoming cases. The people who worked in the Ministry might be daft enough to keep coming in, but that didn't mean he had to subject creatures to the extreme temperatures. Besides, with no active cases on, and provided he turned one or two reports into Jefferson each day, Harry's time was freed up to allow him to get to the bottom of just what was going on.

He spent the first half of his day up on the roof, in the ASS - the name he was _most definitely_ going to be calling it, thank you very much Hermione. It had the benefit of being cooler up there, but apart from that, he didn't find much to go on, and the Aurors on duty kept giving him strange looks. Yes, technically, solving weather-related mysteries had nothing to do with his job description, but unless the changes were maliciously created, it probably wasn't the Aurors' jobs either. The lot of them were just too full of their own self-importance and too protective of their own patch. Ron excepted, Harry thought reflexively, as he always did when thanking Merlin that he'd talked himself out of being an Auror. 

The two desks in the weather dome looked remarkably clear of papers and personal items. Harry thought about the pile of chaos that was his desk and the pinboard he had that was covered in pictures of the Weasleys, Teddy's drawings and some of his favourite pictures from trips he'd taken for work. In contrast, this area seemed ... lifeless. He wondered if the Aurors had already removed everything of interest, or whether the old Wizard who had been in control of the weather and his assistant had just had no need for those personal touches that made a workplace feel comfortable. He hoped it was the former. The latter was just too depressing - people sitting up in this bubble all day long, watching the others in the Ministry go about their work days and providing tiny tweaks to a weather system as needed. Harry couldn't think of anything more boring.

But then he thought about what that weather system was doing right now - the vistas in the windows had changed from jungle scenes to baked dry sand dunes that morning - and suddenly the job seemed a lot less tedious.

Harry took one last look around the ASS and then stroked his finger along Pheo's back.

_Nothing here, little one. We will need to hunt._

He felt her twist against his skin and she stirred in interest.

_What do we hunt? Is it tasty?_

Harry laughed at her one-track mind. _I don't think we will eat at the end of this hunt. But there will be no more drips, at least,_ he replied.

_No drips now,_ Pheo said, satisfaction in her tone. _Just warm warm warm._

Harry smiled down at her, thinking at least someone appreciated the change in the weather.


	3. Wind of Change

_Day 598_

_Hey Pans,_

_You remember sixth year, when Potter was literally following me to the bathroom? Well it's happening again. Everywhere I turn the git is already there with his shaggy hair and his broad shoulders and his fit as fuck, fucking arms. Turns out Potter doesn't wear many clothes when he's hot. And turns out his hotness is making me hotter. Or everything hotter, really ..._

_I don't think it's just me he's following. He seems to be everywhere. I tried staying away from the Ministry for a day, to see if the weather would get any better without me on site. Unfortunately that image of Potter, all bronze skin and rippling muscle as he pulled his shirt off and wrung it out, just wouldn't leave my head ... turns out I don't need to be on site to fuck with the weather and me having a wank is exceedingly bad for the temperature control within the Ministry. Which would be bloody right. My one comfort left in life._

_I wish I could just hand this whole bloody problem off to someone else to fix. But who would believe I hadn't done it on purpose? I need this shitty job too much to risk it. The old bint who collects my rent put the prices up again last month. I think I'm paying triple what everyone else is now._

_I just need to get this fixed, and I can't because Potter keeps getting in my way. This whole thing is all his fault. And the way he's sneaking around corners is really starting to piss me off._

~

Harry started his hunt as a walk-through. He had no idea what he was looking for, or who, so he just travelled every level, checking in on people, chatting with them, and just generally making a nuisance of himself. He forced himself to put his discomfort aside at talking to so many people he didn't know and focussed on what he needed - answers.

He didn't think he'd have been able to get away with it if he were anyone else, but most people's eyes flicked to his scar before they smiled and proceeded to tell him all about their department, who went where and, no, they hadn't seen anyone strange around the place lately. Harry felt his skin crawl at using his notoriety like this. He usually tried to keep a low profile and make himself scarce as much as he could. He tried to ignore how many of them let their eyes drop to his chest and his arms as they spoke. Damned heat. The sooner he could get back into his overcoat, the better.

It wasn't that he never let people see his body. When he had to - when he craved it - he found someone in a club, or in the middle of nowhere in a country that had never heard the name Harry Potter. It was only ever a single night - just enough human contact to calm the emptiness inside him for a while. But this - people watching him like this in his workplace - this was different.

He'd made it to the Magic Reversal HQ on level three when he first noticed something was off. He had a strange feeling, like he was being tracked. It was something he'd picked up from being hunted by any number of creatures over the past eight years. He looked around the crowded workroom casually, not wanting to let on to whoever was watching him that he knew they were there. It could just be someone eyeing him out of curiosity that Harry Potter was in their area ... but it felt different, more intense somehow. He tried to shrug it off, to let it sit in the back of his mind.

He didn't expect to find anyone from this department who could actually tell him anything interesting - the techs in the ASS had been annoyingly tight-lipped - but he figured that if he lingered long enough, he might catch sight of some clue, some slip of the tongue, that told him where to look.

It was as he was leaning against the desk of a tech whose name tag read Dave - and trying to ignore the way Dave's answers had more than a hint of flirting in them - that Harry caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye. He wouldn't have turned at all, except that a gust of wind blew up from behind him.

It had been dead still in the Ministry for three days now - the heat had gone up and down with various levels of intensity, but the air had been still, something that made the temperature even more unbearable. Harry turned away from Dave's smile when he felt the air buffet against him. He caught sight of a swirl of black robes disappearing around the corner. Something about it tugged at his memory. Harry stood, moving away from Dave without another thought.

Another gust of wind travelled through the rooms, sending some of the paperwork on the desks around him flying into the air. Harry broke into a jog.

_Hunting?_ Pheo hissed, curling down his arm, presumably to get a better vantage point.

_Perhaps_, Harry replied.

He rounded the corner to see an empty corridor, a number of doors leading off it. He frowned, looking around. There was no sign of whoever had been in such a hurry. It could have been nothing - it was probably nothing - but something about the whole interaction seemed off to Harry. He cast a locator spell, something that would usually show him the footprints that had been left in the last few minutes, but nothing showed up. Whoever had just left was trailing a minor disillusionment behind them.

He moved through into the Obliviators' wing, as though he hadn't noticed anything, and began the whole process of poking around again. This time he started to ask specific questions, just casual ones, as though he was after gossip. He hated gossip, but it had to be done. Tracking people wasn't so different from tracking creatures. You just needed to look for a different kind of trail. 'Have you seen someone around lately? Black robes? From a different division?'

The answers that started to come back were interesting. Most interesting was his chat with an Obliviator called Trina. She sat him down for a cup of tea, tucking frizzy red hair behind her ear as she settled in for what was clearly a very happy unscheduled break from her paperwork. Harry tried not to roll his eyes at her.

'Noticed him three days ago, I did. Young fellow. Skinny from what I could see of him in those flapping robes. Keeps his hood up most of the time. Just on the edge of things. Watching and listening. Not so long that you'd think he was up to something, mind. Just long enough that he seemed to be passing through. Got a particular interest in the Reversal crew, I think. Seen him in there a few times, these past few days. Not the other day, when we had that heat blast. Were you here? By Merlin, I haven't felt that much heat since the time I got stuck in a sauna room. Funny story, that. I was with Robert, my husband, and he mentioned he might like to -'

Harry coughed and Trina blinked, focussing on him as if surprised to see he was still there.

'This young man,' Harry said. 'Do you have any idea what he looked like? Apart from skinny?'

Trina shook her head. 'Didn't really see him up close, and like I said, he kept his hood up. That was what made me notice him to start with - the robes. In this weather, most people've got their kit off, haven't they?' She gave Harry an appreciative glance and Harry tried to ignore the way her eyes lingered.

'Very pale though, like he could do with a bit of sun,' Trina said with a motherly frown of concern.

Harry noted down the description mentally and forced himself to smile at her.

'Thank you so much. That's very helpful.'

There was another gust of hot air as he spoke. It swirled through the room, sending clothing and paperwork flapping.

Harry looked around, wondering at the strangeness of the weather changing again. He wondered what was setting each of the changes in motion. He couldn't see any link between the fronts that had passed through - rain, followed by heatwave and now growing wind. They'd all been equally disruptive to Ministry business, but that was the only connection he could see.

He didn't find anything else out for the rest of the day, but when he came in the next morning, the temperature was a lot cooler than it had been the day before. It was still gusty though, and as the day wore on, that only seemed to increase. The images in the Ministry windows began to change from barren desert to swirling dust - something that looked suspiciously like the beginnings of the tornados he'd seen while tracking a Thunderbird in the States. Harry fervently hoped the magical view out the window wasn't a sign of what was to come.

Twice more Harry could have sworn he caught sight of the flapping black robes, but the person was always ten steps ahead of him, disappearing through a doorway or around a corner before he got anywhere near them. It was like hunting a Demiguise. One moment he saw the beast, the next moment it had somehow sensed his presence and made itself invisible. Once, when he was in pursuit, the wind blew so hard it knocked him into a wall, much to Pheo's annoyance. The difficulty didn't put him off. He'd hunted more than one Demiguise down, he could hunt whoever this was.

Harry continued his methodical floor-by-floor exploration, surprised to realise as he did so how little of the Ministry he had actually been in. Sure, he'd done the obligatory Departmental tour years ago, when he'd first started in Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, but that had been a half-hour walk around. Since then, he'd mostly kept to his level, Ron's level, and the caf, with occasional visits up to see the Minister.

He'd forgotten how much of a rabbit warren the Ministry was, and it was becoming an increasingly windy one. The wind had gone from occasional gusts to a strong, steady blow. Every room Harry entered, it came at him from a different direction. He looked around at the people at their desks and saw increasing looks of frustration, annoyance and outright anger. The baking heat had cooled right off but the wind was unrelenting. Sticking charms didn't seem to be making much difference and the more the day wore on, the more the Ministry was starting to look like the site of a disaster. Paperwork, plants and even furniture in some instances were blown across rooms and into corridors. 

Every few hours, Harry dropped back to Magical Reversal or up to the ASS. He had a hunch that whoever was doing this was hanging around those areas, though he didn't know if they were doing it so they could try to make things better, or so they could make them worse. The fact that they had messed the weather up and hadn't just come forward to explain what had happened seemed to indicate they might be out to make things worse.

It was Harry's fourth visit to Reversal before he got a look at the person in the black robes. Just like hunting a Demiguise, the key was thinking of anything except what you wanted. The glimpse Harry got of the face that turned away from him with a look of panic was strangely familiar. The man was almost out the door as Harry reached for his wand and whispered a quick charm, one Ginny had used to deadly effect more than once in the Weasley household. Immediately the black-robed figure's movement slowed, as though he were wading through treacle.

Harry hurried out of the room after him, spinning him around and pinning him against a wall as he left the room. He sucked in a sharp breath as they came face-to-face.

'_Malfoy?_' Harry said, voice shocked as he took in the appearance of the man before him. It was definitely Malfoy, face framed by the black hood, but he looked older, sharper somehow ... and just a little bit frantic. Harry pushed Malfoy's hood back, somehow needing to make sure he really was there - unable to understand how it could be Malfoy he was confronting after all these years. It revealed the same pale hair Harry remembered, but frizzed around his head as though Malfoy had been standing in the middle of the wind storm the Ministry had become. He looked far less together than Harry had seen him in a long time. Abruptly, an image of Malfoy stumbling off Harry's broom and collapsing to the ground, streaked with soot, flashed across his mind. Harry grimaced at the memory he hadn't thought of in a long time and let go of Malfoy, taking a few steps back. 

'What are you doing here?' Harry asked, unable to help the suspicion colouring his voice. Malfoy had been the one creeping around for the past few days. He was certain of it.

'I - ah -' Malfoy seemed to stumble over his words for a moment before he shut his mouth and drew himself up. He had an inch on Harry and he stared down his nose, pale eyes unblinking.

'I work here, Potter. I've worked here almost as long as you have, which you'd know if you ever focussed on something that wasn't your giant ego for more than five minutes.' Malfoy's voice was the cold sneer Harry remembered, but something about it didn't seem right.

Harry stared at him, a vague memory coming back to him from years ago, about learning Malfoy had been hired by the Ministry and spending an entire curry night ranting about it, until Hermione had told him quietly that at least there would be people to keep an eye on him this way. He wracked his brain, trying to think what Malfoy had ended up doing. He'd been shoved from one Department to the next, until one day he just wasn't around anymore. Harry didn't think he'd seen Malfoy in years. 

'What, _here_? You work in Magical Reversal?' He stopped the next words that wanted to come from his mouth - _I haven't seen you there_. He hadn't been watching for Malfoy. It had been so long since he had been watching for Malfoy.

Malfoy hesitated a moment, then the sneer crossed his face again. 'As if I would be caught dead doing something so plebeian, Potter. No, the weather changes are affecting my work and I've come to solve the issue, since clearly the Ministry's best,' he gestured with one arm in a derisive movement that clearly included Harry, 'seem unable to.' Harry felt a stab of annoyance at his words. Bloody Malfoy. He clearly hadn't changed.

As if to verify his words, a particularly strong gust of wind hit Harry from behind, pushing him forward a step, so that he came within touching distance of Malfoy again. He tried to ignore the way Malfoy's gaze flicked quickly over him, wondering why he hadn't seemed as surprised by their chance meeting.

Then something else occurred to him and Harry frowned at Malfoy. 'What do you mean, you're solving it?'

Malfoy hesitated a fraction of an instant before he rolled his eyes. It was a strange reaction, almost as though he were trying to remind himself how he should behave. So many tiny things about him didn't seem quite right.

'I mean, Potter, I am gathering evidence to try and figure out what happened, and what the best way to solve it is, so we can all get on with our lives.'

The wind swirled around them again, sending Malfoy's hair whipping into his face. He seemed to be copping the brunt of it even worse than Harry had been. Harry could see the annoyance written all over him as he pushed his hair back, fingers getting caught in a snarl. 

His movements were quick, and his eyes darted past Harry as though he was checking if anyone else was around. Harry watched him, curious about his strange behaviour. Malfoy's eyes flicked abruptly back to Harry and he almost didn't meet Harry's gaze, before he squared his shoulders slightly, seemingly forcing himself to give the appearance of confidence.

Something about Malfoy seemed strangely familiar. Harry watched him a moment longer until the memory popped into his mind and then he almost snorted. Malfoy reminded him of the Peruvian Vipertooth he'd caught the year before last. It had been a tiny thing, all spitting venom and swiping claws. Something about it had just screamed that it needed protecting, but didn't know how to stop fighting.

Malfoy glared at the hint of a smile that Harry let slip onto his face. He opened his mouth, as though to challenge Harry for laughing at him.

At that moment, Pheo poked her head out of his shirt and flicked her tongue in Malfoy's direction.

_Smells like change_, she hissed. Malfoy closed his mouth, the defensiveness bleeding from his stance as he looked curiously at her. He didn't seem surprised by her appearance, the way some people were - maybe he'd seen something about her in the papers. The idea of Malfoy reading about him in the paper - keeping up on his life over the years - made something twitch inside Harry's chest. Surely not? He was being ridiculous. Malfoy had probably wished Harry good riddance and forgotten about him, the way he had about Malfoy.

_Something is changing,_ Pheo said again, decisively.

_What is?_ Harry asked, _The air?_

_The man_, Pheo said, still appraising Malfoy curiously. Harry looked down at her, confused. Sometimes her thought patterns just didn't translate into something he could understand.

Harry glanced at Malfoy again, to see Malfoy's gaze had dropped to his mouth and he was watching Harry with an intense interest. Harry flushed slightly - he didn't usually talk to Pheo a lot around people who weren't used to it. There were just too many links to Voldemort for everyone to be comfortable with that ... but the look on Malfoy's face wasn't discomfort, precisely. Harry cast about for something to say to break the strange tension that was building in the air. He thought about what he'd just observed. The way Malfoy was sneaking about the place was suspicious. Someone should keep an eye on him. He could have been the one to start the bloody problem with the weather. Harry hadn't seen him in years, and suddenly, now, he popped up.

'Do you want to work together, then?' Harry asked, as the idea came to him. He forced casualness in his voice. He wanted to see if Malfoy had anything to do with this, that was all. He pushed the thought of the vulnerable little Peruvian out of his mind.

Malfoy stared at him, eyes wide and surprised.

'Do I want to - do I want to work with you, to fix the weather?' he asked, as though he couldn't quite believe what he'd heard.

Harry shrugged, feeling a little self-conscious, knowing it seemed weird for him to offer. But he'd said it, and he couldn't let Malfoy think he regretted the offer. 'Sure, why not.'

Malfoy's mouth opened and then closed, as though he could think of a hundred reasons why not, but finally he nodded. Something in his face made Harry think Malfoy was expecting a trap; an ambush at any moment. Harry felt some of his suspicions give way before a spike of guilt that that was exactly what he had in mind. Malfoy's look was one he was too familiar with and one he'd spent years trying to alleviate in the many creatures he'd handled.

Did Malfoy deserve his suspicion? Harry had barely spoken to him in the last eight years, after all. Maybe he'd changed? _Maybe he hasn't_, a voice whispered in his mind. _You should watch him_. He looked at Malfoy again, at the hesitant, almost hopeful look on his face as he considered Harry.

It was the hesitation that decided him. Harry couldn't help himself - it was almost instinct for him to offer comfort and reassurance when faced with this level of uncertainty. He reached out a hand, wondering as he did so, if he was making a mistake. Malfoy stared down at his hand, surprise written all over him. It was another long moment before he stretched his out in turn.

It would be much, much later, that Harry would realise the wind had died completely while they talked, and that when their hands had clasped, the sun had come out.


	4. Walking on Sunshine

_Day 601_

_So, you'll never believe this, Pansy, but Potter - _Potter!_ \- and I are working together. We're actually having conversations. No one has been hexed, punched, or insulted. Okay, so that's a lie. I've insulted the git a dozen times since this ... truce(?) started._

_I don't know if it's so much that he wanted a truce as he just couldn't be bothered hating me anymore? That hurts my ego a little bit to say, but the look on his face when he saw me - I think he had actually forgotten I work here. Not that that would be hard. After the sixth time I got shunted to someone else to look after, I made very sure that no one would remember my face or be able to think of a reason to push me out. You remember what it was like back then, with Father in Azkaban, and right after Mother died? Not a good time to be out on my arse with no job._

_Anyway, I digress. Our weather change for the last few days has been sunshine. Beautiful, bright, happy, sickeningly sweet sunshine. I feel like I'm made of it. It's so Hufflepuff I could gag. I have to figure out this weather thing before someone links it to me. Walking around broadcasting my emotions like this is humiliating. Unfortunately, having Potter on the case alongside me is likely to be more of a hindrance than a help. The man thinks he's sneaky but he blunders around like a herd of Hippogriffs in heat (try saying that three times fast). And the way he sounds when he talks to that snake. Merlin, Pans. We'll have another heatwave again, if I'm not careful. _ _I need to get away for a bit to do more research into the origins of the spell. I don't want him to know that I know what it is ... He already suspects me and I have a feeling our newfound peace wouldn't survive that knowledge._

_I guess whining about it isn't going to solve it, and having him close seems to be stabilising the weather, at least. I probably should keep him around for that alone. Only fair to everyone else, really._

_Miss you Pans_.

_X_

~

_**INTERDEPARTMENTAL MEMORANDUM**_

_TO: H Granger, Something Unspeakable_

_FROM: H Potter, Senior Handler, Beast Division_ _RE: You'll never believe this_

_I found Malfoy creeping around the place yesterday. Draco Malfoy! I'd forgotten he even worked here. Apparently he has some pokey little office somewhere and doesn't like to come out into the main floors. Thinks he's too good for the likes of us, probably. He's still a bit of a git. Quieter now, though. Not as much of a git. Wonders will never cease!_

_How's your progress on the weather problem going? The only lead I've got is Malfoy, and he's supposedly looking for the solution too. Apparently the weather is playing havoc with his work, whatever that is. He won't tell me. Thinks my 'small mind' couldn't comprehend it or some rubbish. Anyway, he's probably a dead end but I'm going to keep an eye on him, just in case._

_At least the sunshine we've had is better than the previous few changes. All this makes me want to do is sit back and crack a beer, rather than dehydrate to death, drown or blow away. Maybe the problem is fixing itself? No one seems particularly worried about it anymore, anyway._

_Keep me posted if you find anything_.

_H_

_P.S You two want to come over for curry on Saturday night?_

~

Working with Malfoy was... strange. Even exchanging civil words with him felt weird. It had been a long time since Harry had even thought about Malfoy, and now he found his mind returning to him again and again throughout the day. A part of him thought he should be angrier about seeing Malfoy again, but it had been eight years and he just couldn't summon the same level of antagonism. Besides, Malfoy seemed different somehow. Even their conversation about who should do what had been odd. Malfoy had agreed to everything Harry suggested with an ease that didn't sit right. Malfoy was usually - or at least had been in the past - willing to argue based on the simple fact that it had been Harry who had made the suggestion, but now he seemed ... not eager to oblige, but apathetic, as if he was happy to follow Harry's lead. It wasn't right.

They'd decided that Harry would keep hanging around the Magical Reversal team (who seemed far less frantic now that it was sunny) and Malfoy would check the archives. Every few hours they would meet up to do a sweep of the building together to see if either of them could spot anything out of the ordinary. Harry figured he could use this time to try and get more details out of Malfoy - to see if he was involved somehow.

The thought of being around someone so much made Harry feel a little uneasy. He'd tried being partnered in the beginning of his career, but he'd found the constant contact difficult and after the third time he'd been brought before Jefferson for rudeness, anger or just plain inability to keep his partner up to date, they'd agreed he would do better if he worked solo.

But this wasn't really working with Malfoy. It was watching him. He had a set purpose and he could focus on that.

They were ten minutes into their second sweep and Harry was getting antsy. Malfoy was just so bloody _quiet_. It was unnatural. He had this way of walking where he didn't meet anyone's eye and sort of faded into the background. He reminded Harry again of what it was like to hunt a Demiguise, as though Malfoy would disappear if Harry took his eyes off him for more than a moment.

'The weather's nicer, at least,' Harry said, after casting about for something to break the silence. He wanted to kick himself as soon as the words left his mouth. _The weather?_ Could he be any more of an idiot?

Malfoy eyed him sideways. 'Yes, it's definitely more pleasant,' he said, before he returned his attention to watching people come and go from the Portkey office. Harry watched them too, wishing he could just grab a Portkey and see where he ended up. He hated being stuck inside the Ministry for more than a few days, but Jefferson had him on lockdown until his paperwork was complete. He could feel the itch of it under his skin, like the doors of a cage beginning to close.

'You ever just want to take off?' Harry said, nodding his head at the busy office.

Malfoy grimaced, not looking at him. 'Every day,' he said, so quietly that Harry almost missed it. Then louder, 'Unfortunately the likes of me don't get to just "take off", Potter,' he said, gesturing to his robed arm in what Harry recognised was a reference to the post-war travel restrictions on war criminals. Harry cursed himself again - he wasn't going to get Malfoy to trust him by bringing up the fact that he'd been a Death Eater, let alone by blundering into things that clearly annoyed the man. He'd known Malfoy had been sentenced after Hogwarts, but he'd forgotten that some of the restrictions put in place had been long-lasting. 

Harry ran a hand through his shaggy hair, frustrated at himself. He hated talking to people sometimes. It seemed like whatever he said was the wrong thing. At least when he said the wrong thing to one of his creatures, he didn't upset them. Then Malfoy sighed beside him and Harry looked across.

'But yes, I would love to just grab a Portkey and go somewhere new. See some part of the world I never have before.' He met Harry's eyes and something in his face spoke of a longing that Harry saw in his reflection when everything got a bit too much and he hadn't been on a trip in a while. 'You must have been just about everywhere by now?'

Harry shrugged, then smiled, his mood lifting as he thought of some of his favourite expeditions. Maybe talking about them would help him to ignore the feeling of being shut inside. 'You want to hear about some of it?'

And that was how they passed the day. They met up every few hours and Harry told stories of the places he'd been, people he'd met, creatures he'd chased, helped, or nearly been eaten by. The whole day, Malfoy had been interested, polite and surprisingly funny. It was only late that night, as Harry was laying in bed, playing back his conversation with Malfoy, that he realised he hadn't managed to ask Malfoy a single question that might indicate if he had something to do with the weather changes. His last thought, before he fell asleep was to wonder whether Malfoy had distracted him on purpose.

~

_**INTERDEPARTMENTAL MEMORANDUM**_

_TO: H Potter, Senior Handler, Beast Division_

_FROM: R Weasley, Team Leader, Auror Team 3_ _RE: Are you sure this is a good idea?_

_Harry, I've made a copy of Malfoy's file like you asked, but really, do you think this is a good idea? Even if he is up to something, do you want to get back on that train?_

_I asked around and there's no interest in flagging him for this one, but I can push it and have one of my team shadow him for a bit and see what's happening if you want? It doesn't have to be you._

_I would be very happy if you return this file to me unopened..._

~

Harry looked down at the information spread out before him and felt something in his chest clench. It painted a pretty grim picture, one he'd had no idea about. He checked the dates and most of them corresponded with some of the longer international trips he'd taken. That explained some of it.

Pheo slid down his arm and out of his sleeve, looking at the papers with interest as a mugshot of Malfoy looked back up at her, a defeated look in his nineteen-year-old eyes.

He'd been in Azkaban eighteen months. When he got out, it was to find his mother had died - the loss of her husband, son, Manor and fortune having been too much for her. Malfoy's father had died in Azkaban two years later. From what Harry could tell, Malfoy had completed his NEWTs through the Hogwarts re-entry program, receiving good marks, though he'd chosen to do them in isolation from the other students. 

His entry to the Ministry had been granted due to - as Hermione had said - a wish to make sure he was under the watch of people who could keep him in check. He'd originally been in the Ludicrous Patents Office, funnily enough. Harry wondered what he'd done that was bad enough for him to get kicked out. His next few jobs were recorded but the list stopped in the Magic Reversal Squad, where he very clearly didn't work now. Harry made a mental note to ask Malfoy again about what he did now.

He flipped through the rest of the file. According to the supervision he'd been under for the first few years after his release from Azkaban, Malfoy had no friends remaining in England. Zabini had moved to America, Goyle to Australia and Nott to Germany. The only one who had remained in London was Parkinson, though a file note from a few years before said they hadn't been seen together in several months.

_You smell sad_, Pheo said, looking up at him with a tilt of her head. _This flat man makes you sad?_

Harry reached out to run a finger down her back. _He's had a hard life. Much pain. He is all alone._ Harry looked back to Malfoy's face, feeling unexpected sympathy well up in him. He thought of his own life - the emptiness of Grimmauld Place, his inability to spend much time around anyone except for Ron and Hermione. He tried - he really tried - but people made him feel wrong. Anxious. Like if he stayed around them too long there would be restrictions and expectations and eventually, losses.

His therapist had told him it was a natural outcome of the way he had been used during the War. She'd suggested he open up and try to rebuild the relationships around him, to learn to trust again. He'd learned to trust again. He spent all day around creatures he trusted and who trusted him.

Harry looked back down at the picture of Malfoy in front of him, grief and pain written across his face. He could feel its reflection inside him.

'It's hard to be alone,' he said quietly. 

~

Malfoy was much the same the next day. Quiet. Reserved. He would speak when spoken to and seemed happy to listen to Harry's stories, but he didn't venture anything about himself. He reminded Harry a bit of the Thestrals, actually. They were shy things, skittish, until they trusted you, and then they pushed you all over the place. Something in him wanted that with Malfoy - wanted that familiarity. 

He tried to examine that thought - examine why, of all people, he wanted to get to know Malfoy better. Was it just to get to the bottom of the weather issues? Those were less and less on his mind with each sunny day they had. He thought about the file he'd seen the day before and the defeated look in Malfoy's eyes when he'd got out of Azkaban. Some of that was still hovering, Harry realised, in the back of his gaze. There was a part of Malfoy that was broken - that wasn't what it had been. It didn't seem right. So much had been broken, after the war. Did this have to be as well?

He could hear Hermione's voice in the back of his mind as he watched Malfoy throughout the morning. _Don't you think you've got a bit of a saving-people thing, Harry?_ This wasn't that. He knew he projected that onto the creatures he worked with, but he didn't do it with people. Not anymore. Not after Sirius. It was just that he wanted, maybe, a little bit of that rivalry they'd had in school. Even that would be so much better than this quiet politeness. Harry smiled slightly as he remembered the way Malfoy had always got his blood pumping, one way or another. 

He began to look at Malfoy in much the same way that he looked at a challenge with one of his creatures. He refused to examine too closely why he was suddenly driven to do the very things his therapist had been encouraging him to do repeatedly when he was seeing her - _You need to connect with people, Harry. Let them in again_.

Thinking things like that made him feel anxious, sweaty, like the walls were closing in and he had to get out. He pushed the thoughts away. He had a way forward, something he could focus on, and that was enough. He would treat Malfoy like he would a Thestral. Establish familiarity, casual intimacy, trust. Establish himself as someone who brought good things.

Malfoy's face when Harry invited him to lunch that day was priceless. There was surprise, wariness, and then quickly-hidden longing. Malfoy headed towards the cafeteria, but Harry steered him away and down to the Atrium, where he showed Malfoy the secret lift that led to the rooftop.

'This is the other piece of the puzzle,' he said quietly, as they skirted around the Magical Reversal crew still crawling over the domed ASS. 'It's where the weather is normally controlled from. The techs reckon whatever went wrong, it probably happened in there.'

Malfoy nodded, looking over at the dome with nervousness in his face. _Gentle_, Harry reminded himself. _Build trust._

He put a hand on Malfoy's back and guided him away from the dome, around the corner of the roof to a spot that had a view out over the city. Malfoy stiffened under his touch, but didn't pull away. Harry could feel the warmth of Malfoy's back under his hand. He noticed himself focussing on the play of Malfoy's muscles through his robes as he walked. Establishing casual intimacy with a creature was very different to doing it with a human - especially when every other time he'd touched that human had involved a fist or a boot. 

Harry frowned at the memories and dropped his hand as he gestured to the thick brick ledge he'd taken to sitting on when he'd wanted to escape the crazy heatwave, or take a break from people over the last few days.

When Malfoy had settled himself on the edge of the platform, Harry sat as well, one leg dangling over the edge as he leaned back against a pillar. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small package, which he unshrunk with a tap of his wand.

Malfoy looked at him with one eyebrow raised as Harry pulled out an apple and flicked it to him. Malfoy's hand darted out and he grabbed it from the air. Harry couldn't help but grin at Malfoy's reflexes. At least on the Quidditch pitch it had been less about the bad blood between them and more about testing themselves against each other.

'We should go flying sometime,' Harry said, surprising himself. It was one thing to spend time with Malfoy at work. It was another thing altogether to be considering voluntarily spending time with him outside of work.

Malfoy flushed red and looked away, muttering something Harry couldn't catch. He didn't press. _Slow_, he reminded himself. _Thestrals spook easily_. Besides, he wasn't quite sure if the offer to fly together was such a great idea, though something in him yearned to really challenge himself against Malfoy again.

He distracted himself by pulling out two cupcakes, complete with pink frosting, that he'd picked up from the Ministry cafeteria and a few sandwiches. Malfoy took a bite of the apple Harry had thrown him, but Harry caught his eye on the cupcake. He made sure he kept his smile to himself. _Establish himself as someone who brought good things_. He may or may not have remembered Malfoy taking his fair share of sweets every time the Hogwarts elves served it up. Pheo slid out of his shirt and onto the ledge. Harry turned his attention to her as she inspected the items one by one. She curled around to hiss at Harry.

_Dead_.

_Yes, little one. Human food. Not snake. Hungry?_

_Always_, Pheo hissed and Harry had to laugh.

Malfoy looked at him. His cheeks were tinged red and his eyes kept dropping to Harry's mouth before he pulled them back up, but there was a clear question in his face.

'Pheo's hungry,' Harry said, smiling fondly down at her. 'She's a tiny thing, but she's always hungry. Our food is too dead for her though.'

Malfoy seemed to take that in his stride. 'Pheo?'

'It's short for _opheodrys aestivus_, her Muggle scientific name. She's a rough green snake. I found her a year ago, when I was hunting for an escaped Erumpent, actually. She was very helpful and decided to come home with me.'

'Easy as that,' Malfoy said, watching Pheo with something like sadness in his face.

Harry remembered the file he'd read and wondered if Malfoy even had a pet to keep him company.

Harry was going to suggest Pheo introduce herself, but she was already moving towards Malfoy. He didn't show any signs of alarm, just put his hand out so she could slide up onto it, and from there up his arm.

Malfoy smiled down at her progress, twitching slightly when her tongue flicked out onto his neck.

'Hello,' he said softly. 'I'm Draco. I'm sorry I don't have anything alive for you, but I'll bring something next time.'

Harry felt an unexpected warmth slide through him at the easy acceptance of Pheo. _He says he will bring you food_, Harry told her. Malfoy's eyes jerked towards him before he pulled them away to look back down at Pheo.

She looked over at Harry for a moment, then resumed her flickering investigation of Malfoy's neck. _He smells right_, she hissed. _You should mate with him_.

Harry couldn't help the choke of sound that came out of his mouth. He didn't know if it was a laugh or an objection. No - what was he saying. Of course it was an objection. The idea was ridiculous. He would never - with Malfoy. He ignored the way that Malfoy looked now, hair no longer crazy, robes unbuttoned at the neck as he enjoyed the sun.

'What did she say?' Malfoy asked curiously, seemingly unfazed as Pheo slid inside his shirt. Harry forced himself not to redden as he scrambled for something to say. 'She - ah - she looks forward to the food,' Harry said, taking a cue from his own words and reaching for one of the sandwiches sitting between them.

He was interrupted by a memo plane zooming into the side of his head. He reached up and grabbed it from the air before it could poke him again.

_**INTERDEPARTMENTAL MEMORANDUM**_

_TO: H Potter, Senior Handler, Beast Division_

_FROM: L Jefferson, Department Head, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures_ _RE: Paperwork, Potter_

_Mr Potter,_

_You have 75 outstanding reports. I am very aware that you have been gallivanting around the Ministry these last few days. One report a day isn't going to cut it. I want two dozen on my desk before the end of the week._

_LJ_

Harry made a face and screwed the memo into a ball. Malfoy raised an eyebrow at him, clearly curious. 'My boss,' he said, shoving the paper in his pocket. 'I... don't do my paperwork as often as she'd like.'

Malfoy laughed, but there wasn't the edge of cruelty to it that Harry remembered from the past.

'What was it about you that made her think you were good at paperwork, Potter?'

Harry barely refrained from poking out his tongue. 'Shove off, Malfoy. Some of us have more interesting things to do than paperwork.'

Malfoy crossed his arms, being careful not to dislodge Pheo as he looked down his nose at Harry. 'Good record-keeping is important, Potter,' he said, a superior tone in his voice. Harry felt a spike of annoyance and it took him a moment to realise that there was a gleam in Malfoy's eyes. Malfoy was teasing him. Fine, two could play that game. He needed Malfoy around so he could question him more anyway - the idea of him being behind all of this still wasn't out of the question.

'Alright then, you snob,' Harry said. 'Come and show me how it's done.'

Malfoy looked at him with surprise. 'What? You want me to write your reports for you?'

Harry shrugged. 'Do you have anything better to do?' He paused, looking at Malfoy more closely. 'What _do_ you do, anyway? You didn't say.'

Malfoy waved his hand vaguely as he stood, scooping up one of the sandwiches and a cupcake, which he shrunk and dropped into his pocket. Pheo slithered down from his sleeve, but rather than looking for Harry, she curled around Malfoy's wrist. He looked down at her, surprised, but then smiled. Harry almost forgot what he had been asking as he watched the two of them together. She wasn't normally so casually affectionate with anyone but him - even Ron and Hermione, who'd known her since she appeared last year, barely got a pat in.

Malfoy made to walk back to the lift, but Harry bumped against him. 'So?' he said, a clear follow up on his unanswered question.

Malfoy shrugged, looking uncomfortable. 'Nothing that interesting actually. I kind of -' he took a deep breath, his eyes moving over to the weather dome, then back to the ground in front of him. 'I've done a bunch of jobs. No one wants me around for too long. I started in Patents.' He smiled humourlessly. 'I think I only got the job because it was so mind-numbingly boring they didn't have any other applicants. I've worked in Magic Reversal, Trading Standards, Broom Control. You name it,' he said, his tone light in a way that sounded off to Harry.

'What do you do now?' Harry asked, not wanting to make him uncomfortable, but needing to know, one way or another.

Malfoy hesitated, glancing up at Harry for a second before he looked away. Harry felt his suspicion, which had died down, sharpen again.

'I lied,' Malfoy said, stopping and facing him. Harry felt his heart beating faster in his chest and a sick feeling rise in his stomach. 'When I said I was doing something important that would be affected by the weather, I lied,' Malfoy said. Harry waited, forcing himself to hear what came next. Malfoy looked embarrassed. 'I work in the Floo Network Authority now,' he said, not meeting Harry's eyes. His tone was bitter. 'I spend my days making duplicate copies of Floo connection applications.' His shoulders hunched. 'Living the dream,' he muttered, as he turned away.

Harry let out a breath, feeling all his tension go with it. Malfoy wasn't behind the weather issues. He was just getting more of the same rubbish his file had shown. Harry took a quick step forward, putting his hand on Malfoy's arm. Malfoy looked back at him with surprise.

'I'm sorry you're getting shitty treatment,' he said, hoping his genuine sympathy showed. 'You're being wasted in a position like that.'

He must have succeeded because Malfoy gave him a warm smile, though he still wouldn't quite meet Harry's eyes. Harry figured he would be embarrassed too, telling Malfoy he was stuck in some horrible, pointless job. He decided to let it be.

When they got down into Harry's office, Malfoy wandered around the room, peering at the pictures Harry had stuck to his pinboard, picking up books about rare diseases and putting them back down after thumbing through them for a moment. He moved around the room, touching everything lightly. _Almost like a Kneazle scent-marking its territory_, Harry thought with a smile. He felt his heart skip slightly in response to this thought but he pushed it away. He was being ridiculous. It was just that hardly anyone ever came in here, and seeing someone appreciate the things he had gathered was nice.

Harry sat down at the desk, putting his feet up on the edge of it as he watched Malfoy's slow circuit.

'See anything you like?' Harry said at last. Malfoy's eyes jerked to his and a slow blush spread across his face. He looked away again. Harry put his boots down, feeling like the room had got a whole lot warmer all of a sudden. He pulled a pile of reports to himself, needing the distraction from his odd reaction.

'Anyway, did you still want to help, or-?'

Malfoy nodded once, still not meeting Harry's eyes, and moved to sit opposite Harry, clearing an extendable containment field off the chair before he did.

Harry handed him a completed report and Malfoy skimmed his eyes down it, before he grinned.

'They're all the same format?' he asked, looking up. Harry was struck all of a sudden by how grey his eyes were, like the sky before a storm. He nodded in response.

Malfoy pulled out his wand and Harry stopped himself from tensing. He forced himself to take a breath. There were so many things he hadn't been able to leave behind after the War, no matter how hard he'd tried. Images flashed through his mind of graveyards, the nightmare that had unfolded on level nine, the forest and a flash of green. He pushed the memories away. He'd forced himself to cope with all sorts of things, not least working in the Ministry on a daily basis. Not thinking about things was a major part of his coping mechanism. But over the last two days, so many things he hadn't thought about in a long time were trying to come back into his mind and making room for them felt uncomfortable, like clothes he had outgrown and didn't want anymore.

He forced himself to focus on exactly what Malfoy was doing, and he relaxed a moment later as Malfoy tapped the report with his wand and then made a complicated movement before he tapped the mountains of uncompleted reports on the desk in front of Harry.

As Malfoy tucked his wand away, Harry picked a folder up off the pile and his eyes widened in amazement.

'Bullshit,' he whispered. 'Does Hermione know how to do that?'

Malfoy had just populated the report with all of the annoying, time consuming details that drove Harry mad. It included his name, department, qualifications and basic observations about risk assessments, safety procedures and creature protocols he was required to laboriously copy into every report. Harry dropped it to the table and opened another, whistling when he saw it was partially completed too.

Malfoy shrugged nonchalantly, but his lips quirked into a pleased smile.

'Your handwriting is atrocious, by the way, Potter. I think it's gotten worse since school.' Malfoy picked up a half-completed report from Harry's desk and looked at the scrawled memo inside it.

'This one is supposed to be the report of your transportation of a Chimaera to - Potter, that is _not_ how you spell Magherafelt!' He shook his head and picked up a quill from Harry's desk. 'Right, why don't you tell me what happened, and I'll fill out the sodding report?'

~

The next day was the same. Harry didn't even have to go looking for Malfoy. He just appeared in Harry's doorway first thing in the morning. Harry didn't notice him for a moment, as he shifted through folders on his desk.

_Mate is back_, Pheo hissed, nudging his chin. Harry started and looked up, taking in Malfoy's appearance. He looked much more neat and tidy than he had when Harry had first cornered him and he seemed calmer as well, less like he was ready to jump out of his own skin. Harry realised he'd been staring when Malfoy raised an eyebrow at him. 'Can I come in, Potter?'

He mentally kicked himself and waved to Malfoy. 'Yes. Yeah, of course. Have a seat.'

He turned back to Pheo. _He's not my mate,_ he said. _Humans don't have mates. Stop distracting me_.

Pheo hissed her displeasure at him, clearly disagreeing, but a moment later she was sliding down his arm and spilling onto the table in her eagerness. Harry felt something warm inside him when he saw what Malfoy was laying out on the table.

'You remembered,' he said, unable to help the softness in his voice.

Malfoy glanced up at him for a moment, then back down to the various containers. 'Yes, well. Couldn't have her starving, could I?' He fussed about them for a moment, lining them up neatly.

'I did a bit of research, but I didn't know what you preferred,' he said to Pheo directly. 'So I got a bit of everything.'

Harry looked down to see Malfoy had indeed got all the typical items a rough green would eat in the wild: there were crickets, a spider, a few moths flapping against their prison ineffectively, caterpillars and some beetle larvae. There was even a small frog.

_Feast_, Pheo hissed, swinging her head from one container to another in a clear agony of indecision. _Mine. Mate brings food for me_.

Harry laughed at her and then smiled up at Malfoy. 'I think you're her new favourite person,' he said. 'This is about enough food for her for two months, but she'd try and eat it all now if she could.'

Malfoy smiled in pleasure, cheeks reddening in a way that made Harry's heart skip. He ignored the reaction. It was just nice to see someone being so caring to Pheo... that was all.

_Caterpillars_, Pheo hissed, drawing both their attention as she butted against the glass. _Fat. Green. Mine. Now._

'An excellent choice,' Malfoy said, clearly having no trouble interpreting her actions, if not her words. He reached out to unscrew the container, glancing up to Harry with an enquiring lift of his eyebrow, clearly asking if he should tip them out. Harry shrugged.

'Either way. She'll crawl in there and eat them or chase them around the desk just as happily.'

Malfoy's lips quirked into a smile as he clearly imagined her hunting the fuzzy bundles around the table. He upended the jar, tipping the caterpillars out in a line over the top of Harry's folders. 

_Hunt_, Pheo hissed with pleasure as her head darted out and she took the first between her jaws, swallowing it down.__

Harry and Malfoy watched her for the next half an hour as she made her way around the desk, seeking out the caterpillars one by one and clearly expressing her delight every time she found one.

It was nice, Harry realised, as he watched Malfoy watching Pheo, to have someone to share his office every now and again. It got quiet sometimes, with only Pheo to talk to and the creatures for company. He didn't tend to deal with the sentient ones, so that made the conversation pretty one-sided.

_It's more than just nice to have someone in your office,_ a voice whispered in his mind. _It's nice to have someone around who is comfortable in your space - who is not fawning, or afraid or overly formal._ Malfoy _in particular, is nice to have around_. 

As if reading his thoughts, Malfoy looked up, picking a report up off his desk.

'If all you do is sit and watch your snake eat all day, Potter, I'm not surprised your boss doesn't trust you with reports. Shall we?'

Harry rolled his eyes, but couldn't keep any sort of annoyance going as Pheo finished her hunt and slithered sluggishly to the edge of the desk. Without hesitating Malfoy reached out a hand and she curled onto it, belly distended with the evidence of her meal. Malfoy transferred her to his shoulder, where she draped herself over his neck comfortably.

_Mate is good provider_, she hissed drowsily, head drooping.

_Not mate_, Harry said again, not missing the way Malfoy's eyes flickered to his lips as he spoke to Pheo. Malfoy couldn't have a problem with it, not with how comfortable he was around Pheo. Did he ... like it? Harry told himself he was being ridiculous. But he couldn't help the hint of interest the thought stirred in him.

'So,' he said, clearing his throat. 'What's the first report for today?'

Malfoy flipped the cover open and then let out a snort. 'Apparently you came off second best with a Niffler. Really, Potter? A _Niffler_?' 

_ _~_ _

They fell into an easy routine over the next few days. They would work in Harry's office together in the mornings, do a lap of the building, checking Magical Reversal and the ASS, and then stay up on the roof for lunch together until Malfoy headed off to do more research in the archives or catch up with whatever he'd missed in the Floo Authority - though if the spells he had for duplication reports were any indication, that only took him a few minutes each day.

Harry liked their time on the roof the most. It wasn't that the weather was better outside - it had been a gorgeous, balmy temperature inside for days now - Harry could tell that Malfoy was more comfortable when he wasn't around other people. He tended to get more tense when they were on their walks through the building, as though he were waiting for something to happen. His tension blended with the simmering undercurrent of discomfort Harry always felt when inside a building he couldn't Apparate from. Normally he could ignore it, but his awareness of Malfoy's anxiety pricked at him, putting him even on edge. 

'What do you think of it, working at the Ministry?' Harry asked, as they sat down to lunch one day. He'd been thinking about Malfoy the night before, about the way he'd been shunted from one job to the next, and the way he seemed defensive to the point of fear when he walked the halls. It worried him. It wasn't that he was trying to _save_ Malfoy. It was just that if there was something he could do to make things a little easier, that wouldn't be too much to ask.

Malfoy looked across at him, surprised. Harry thought he saw a hint of wariness as well. Malfoy shrugged. 'It's okay. It's better than it used to be. Most people leave me alone now.'

'You have to use a disillusionment, don't you?' Harry asked, deciding to just come to the point.

Malfoy hesitated, before he nodded. 'It's easier that way. I don't have to be on my guard as much and people don't have to deal with knowing I work in the same place my father once tried to destroy.'

Harry thought about following that statement up, but it fitted with what he'd assumed and something more interesting had been playing on his mind. 'How come I noticed you?' 

Malfoy's cheeks reddened slightly. Harry wondered why he'd never noticed in school how expressive Malfoy was. He wore his emotions all over himself, if you were close enough to see. _You were never close enough, in school_, a voice whispered in his mind. _Unless you were fighting._

'It's probably the fact that you're used to tracking things,' Malfoy said, not meeting his eyes. 'You'd be used to looking for signs that other people miss.'

Harry hummed in agreement, though something about Malfoy's answer made him think there was more to it. He decided not to press. It was nice, sitting here together. Nice to be developing this strange, tentative sort of friendship. 

'Why are you doing this?' Malfoy said suddenly, breaking into Harry's musings. His question so closely mirrored the direction Harry's thoughts had been going, he wondered for a second if Malfoy was using Occlumency on him. He shook the thought off.

'Doing what?'

'This,' Malfoy said with a huff of frustration, as he gestured between them, then down at the picnic Harry had laid out between them.

'You have no reason to be nice to me. You're barely even trying to solve the problem with the weather anymore. I just - I know you only started talking to me because you thought the weather was my fault. I thought you would have decided I didn't know anything and buggered off by now.' 

Harry frowned at him, taking in the tense set to Malfoy's shoulders and the look of hesitancy hovering in his eyes, as though he were waiting for a blow to fall.

'Do you want me to bugger off?' he asked carefully. He hadn't meant to overstay his welcome. His suspicion that Malfoy could be behind this had dissolved days ago. Malfoy had showed no signs of being malicious or deviously interested in doing damage to the Ministry. The thought that Malfoy didn't want him around but had just been tolerating him made Harry feel strangely uncomfortable.

'No,' Malfoy said quickly, and Harry felt his stomach unclench. 'No, this is - it's nice. I just don't understand _why_ you're doing it.' Malfoy closed his mouth, looking embarrassed and Harry wondered how long he'd bottled up the question. 

Harry shrugged. 'You're fun to spend time with,' he said, then chuckled at those words, 'which is _not_ something I ever thought I'd find myself saying.'

Malfoy, rather than laughing in turn, just hunched his shoulders and looked out over the rooftops. 'I'm sorry I was such a shit to you,' he said in a low voice.

Harry looked at him, surprise running through him. 'I mean - it was a long time ago. I gave my fair share back.'

Malfoy shook his head, looking over at Harry, meeting his eyes with determination, as though steeling himself to say something.

'Some of it - some was just us being kids. It - fighting against you - was one of the best parts of school.' He let out a small grin that Harry couldn't help but return.

Malfoy sobered. 'But the other stuff - the stuff that I did that was cruel, and wrong, to you and others. I'm sorry for that.' He looked down again, his hand coming up to grip his left arm, to where Harry knew Voldemort's mark would still be branded. 

Harry looked at him and thought about all the memories that he'd been reliving over the last week - all the ways that Malfoy had hurt him and those around him over the years. He'd been surprised to find when he pulled them into the light, that the hurt had dulled and that he could see some of the stupid decisions he'd also made at that age in a different way. His therapist would have been proud of him, making all those breakthroughs all by himself.

He reached out and touched Malfoy's knee lightly. Malfoy looked up at him, eyes widening slightly.

'Hey,' Harry said softly, as though he were talking to a nervous Thestral. 'I've been thinking a lot about school and all the stuff that happened between us over the past few days. I - I think I left all of that behind a while ago, and... I feel like maybe you did too?'

Malfoy nodded once, jerkily, and Harry smiled at him.

'No reason we can't start again, then?' 

'Sure,' Malfoy said. 'Sure. Okay.' He cleared his throat, face taking on that embarrassed look again. Then he held out his hand.

'Hi, I'm Draco.'

Harry looked down, feeling something warm and satisfied swell in his chest.

'Hey, Draco,' he said, as they shook hands. 'I'm Harry.' 

It was a long moment before he let go. It wasn't until Draco made a strangled noise and looked over Harry's shoulder that he turned, breaking the contact between them. 

The sky behind him was full of rainbows. 


	5. Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow

_Day 604_

_I'm so cold. All the time._

_I should have known I couldn't trust Potter._

~

It wasn't until Ron cornered him about it that Harry admitted to himself just how much he was enjoying Malfoy's - _Draco's_ \- company. Hermione and Ron were at Grimmauld, scattered takeaway containers spread out before them and The Bill on the telly.

'Wait,' Ron said, his mouth full of noodles. 'What do you mean you're still working with him? I thought you weren't working with him at all? I thought you were keeping an eye on him in case he was wrapped up in all the weather stuff?'

Harry shrugged, not bothering to pinpoint just when over the last week he'd stopped worrying about the weather and had begun to just enjoy having someone to talk to. And Draco was surprisingly good to talk to. The more time they spent together, the more Draco opened up. He still didn't have a lot to say about himself, but his snarky observations and additions to Harry's stream-of-consciousness rambles were preferable to the silence he usually dealt with.

'Seriously though,' Ron said, putting his chopsticks down. 'Do you think he's involved? I know I said Robards wasn't interested in him for investigation but the damage tally is pretty grim. They had half a dozen hospitalisations from the heatwave and the repairs bill from the monsoon is up to half a million Galleons, last I heard. Turns out the worst damage is resistant to repair spells. They're having to bring specialists in.'

Harry's eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't realised it had gotten that bad. He shook his head decisively. 'Draco's definitely not involved,' he said, ignoring the way Ron mouthed _Draco?_ at him. 'He works for the Floo Network in some shitty job. That reminds me,' Harry said, turning to Hermione with a frown. 'Who can I talk to about the fact that he's been treated so badly since he started work at the Ministry? He's in some stupid job that's a waste of his time. He was second to you in school. He shouldn't be duplicating reports for a living.'

Hermione considered for a moment. 'I have a friend in the Minister's support staff,' she said. 'I can ask around.' She leaned towards him, an interested look on her face. 'What does Pheo think of him?'

Harry rolled his eyes at her. 'It's not like that,' he said, annoyed at her reminder of the many men and women Pheo had declared unsuitable and who had gone on to show, one way or another, that they'd been after him for their own reasons. He tried to forget Pheo's recurrent suggestions that Draco smelled like a good mate for him. The thought tickled at his mind though, sending a strange sense of contentment through him.

Hermione hummed noncommittally and returned her attention to the telly. Pheo chose that moment to poke her head out of Harry's shirt.

_You smell different, green eyes. You are happy?_

Harry thought about that for a moment. He'd been in the office the last week and a half. Normally after a day or two, he had itchy feet and he needed to be back out there again, to be doing something, going somewhere. He felt trapped by his desk and by the expectations of everyone around him to be okay more often than not. At least when he was out in the field, the creatures he was working with didn't care if he was a bit off sometimes.

Harry thought about what it had been like the last few days, working alongside Draco. Draco was a little bit off too, he thought. He wasn't always all the way there in the way that people should be. But somehow, that made Harry feel more comfortable in his presence, not less.

_Yes,_ he hissed back to Pheo after a moment. _I think I am happy._

~

When he came back into work on Monday, Harry found himself anticipating Draco's visit. He tidied up his desk and left out the slice from the pie he'd made last night. For morning tea. For both of them. Then he directed a cushioning charm at his spare chair. It was something he'd been meaning to do for a while. It just didn't look like it was the most comfortable of chairs, that was all.

Draco was in on time, like he had been all of the week before.

'Morning,' he said with a small smile. 'How's my favourite person today?' Harry's heart skipped for a moment before Pheo slid down his arm and onto Draco's outstretched hand. He cooed at her, praising her bright scales and her long body. Harry rolled his eyes at both of them.

'Good morning, Draco,' he said. 'I'm well. How are you? Did you have a nice weekend? That's wonderful. I did too.'

Draco's eyes flicked to Harry for a second and he grinned before he turned his attention back to Pheo. Harry tried to tune out what she was saying to him in response. Her infatuation with Draco was getting a little ridiculous.

Finally, Draco dropped into the seat opposite Harry and shifted around for a moment, sighing in satisfaction as he leaned back. Then his eyes lit on the lemon pie, before he pulled them away. He turned to look properly at Harry.

'You're treating me like one of your creatures, aren't you?' he said, teasing accusation in his voice.

Harry stared at him for a moment. 'What - no. I mean, not really -'

Draco's laugh cut him off. 'Calm down, Potter. I quite like the special treatment, if I'm honest.' His smile had a hint of something deeper to it and it sent Harry's heart beating again.

'What's on for today?' Draco asked, transferring Pheo to his neck and reaching for a file.

'I thought we could go out in the field together,' Harry said, remembering his plan for the day. 'If you want to? I had a memo come in that I really shouldn't ignore, and I feel like I haven't gotten out of this place in forever, and the weather is still just doing its sunshine thing, and I feel like we're not going to solve what's going on anyway, since we've barely made any progress and -'

'Harry,' Draco interrupted, and Harry tried not to focus on how good his name sounded in Draco's mouth. 'Breathe.' Harry closed his mouth and felt himself blush. He wasn't nervous. It didn't matter one way or another whether Draco wanted to come out with him - on a field trip. Not a date.

'It sounds good. Do I need to bring anything?'

Harry looked him up and down, making sure his eyes didn't linger. He - Draco looked fine.

'No,' he said, 'but if you want, I can transfigure your shoes and your robes into something a bit more suitable for being out?'

Draco didn't hesitate, standing up and spreading his arms wide. 'Sure. My days of designer clothes are long gone. Do your worst.'

Harry let his magic sweep over Draco, making his shoes into sturdy boots and pulling his robes in tighter against his body, thickening them and adding some water-proofing. He hesitated a moment and then cast a sun charm over him as well.

Draco's face was flushed and his breathing was coming a little more quickly by the time Harry had finished. Harry forced himself not to think about why. Having other people cast over you was always a little strange, that was all. He looked at Draco to make sure he hadn't mucked anything up and he couldn't help but notice how the modified robes showed off the long lines of his body. The different cut made him look less "mad scientist" and more refined, like Harry had pictured when he thought about how Draco might grow up. The thought made him hesitate for a moment ... when had he thought about how Draco might look when he was older? Not back in school, surely?

'So what are we hunting?' Draco asked, looking far more excited than Harry had thought he would be. Harry pulled his attention back to the present and passed the memo over.

'Golden Snidgets. And it's less of a hunt and more of a rest stop. They're travelling to Greece and they need to be let out to eat and stretch,' he said.

Draco's eyes flicked to the small case in the corner. 'They're in there?'

Harry nodded with a smile. 'All six-hundred-and-thirty-seven of them.' He stood and moved to the large cupboard near his door, opening the double doors and pulling out two brooms.

'You can still fly, yeah?' he asked, letting a hint of challenge into his voice.

Draco rose to the bait beautifully, holding out his hand and wandlessly Accioing one of the brooms. It hit his palm with a smack and Harry grinned.

'Good,' he said, going to collect the case, 'let's see how you go with a whole flock of snitches then, shall we?'

Harry laughed at the slightly alarmed look on Draco's face as he led them from the room.

'Where are we going?' Draco asked, as they made their way to the roof.

'Bit of a flight,' Harry said. 'We need to get clear of the city before we can release them.'

Draco tilted his head slightly. 'We can't just Apparate there?'

Harry shook his head. 'No. It's not good for the creatures. You can do it, but you often get losses in groups of small creatures and it makes the really big ones sick or angry. It's easier just to transport them by land or air.'

When they reached the roof, Harry went to cast his normal charms, then paused, looking across at Draco. 'You want to do the honours?'

Draco looked confused for a moment, but then a look of pleased surprise spread across his face and he pulled his wand out, casting a disillusionment charm over both of them. Harry felt Draco's magic drift over him, seeping into him like the warmth of the summer sun in the rooms below. He closed his eyes, revelling in the way it wrapped around him.

When he opened them, Draco was looking at him with an oddly intense expression on his face. Harry cleared his throat, looking away as he put a leg over his broom.

'Follow me,' he said, as he kicked into the air, the case of Snidgets strapped securely to his back.

He heard a murmur behind him, almost as though Draco had said, 'gladly.'

They flew for over an hour, taking it in turns to take the lead, following in single file to keep the air drag down. Harry tried not to notice the way Draco's seat on a broom was just as graceful as it had been in school... or the way Draco's trousers pulled tight over his arse when his robes flapped out behind him. Finally, when he realised they were flying far slower than they should be, he made himself take the lead for the remainder of the journey, as they began to move into more and more sparsely populated land.

Harry spotted an open meadow surrounded by trees and began his descent, spiralling down to the ground. Draco landed beside him and looked around.

'Where are we?' he asked, as he stretched and shook his legs out. Harry couldn't help the way his eyes lingered on the long lines of Draco's body as he moved. He'd been watching Draco more and more, he knew. He didn't seem to be able to break himself of his old habit. Except now ... his gaze was a lot less suspicious and a lot more appreciative. Not that he would do anything about it - not that Draco would want him to.

'Sore?' he asked, trying to distract himself from his thoughts.

Draco shrugged. 'It's been a long time since I flew,' he said, and he didn't seem inclined to say any more. Harry didn't push him. He was beginning to see more and more that whatever had happened to Draco after the war had been painful and wasn't something he liked to talk about. Harry wondered if, one day, Draco would tell him. The thought made him wonder just how long Draco would be a part of his life for. He felt a tendril of hope that maybe it would be a long time.

'We're in Surrey Hills,' he said, pulling his mind away from that train of thought as well. 'You want a break before I let them out?'

Draco eyed the case dubiously. 'What exactly happens when you let them out?' he asked.

Harry smiled, remembering how much fun he'd had last time he'd done a mid-transport stop with a Snidget flock.

'We herd them,' he grinned. 'Most of them will probably want to feed on the flowers, and the ones that take to the air will fly together. It's not too difficult. We just have to keep them in the meadow until they've fed and flown properly, and then put them away again.'

'Alright,' Draco said with a nod, as he mounted his broom again. 'Let's see who's the better seeker once and for all.'

Harry raised his eyebrows. 'Like that, is it? Okay then, Malfoy. Prepare to be trounced.'

'You wish, Potter,' Draco said, as he kicked up and flew gracefully into the air to hang far above them.

Harry smiled up at him and then opened the neck of his oilskin.

_We fly fast now, little one. Stay close?_

Pheo tightened her grip around the leather necklace Harry wore when he flew with her and he buttoned up the neck of his coat again, before he lay the case out on the ground and spoke the words that would release the flock.

They poured from the box, a streaming flash of golden movement. Harry watched them take to the air, feeling happiness flow through him, then he kicked off the ground and joined Draco in circling above them. It took the flock a minute or two to get their bearings and then they were off, cutting for the trees in one synchronised streak. Harry laughed as he saw Draco change directions immediately, heading them off with ease. The flock reacted like they would to the appearance of any large predator and immediately flew back in the opposite direction, every single bird changing direction mid-air with simultaneous ease. Harry let them fly until they were almost at the trees at the other end and then he shot down in front of them, diverting them again. The two went back and forth for half-an-hour, racing past each other so close they could almost touch. Draco hadn't lost any of his skills from school and the sight of his easy command of his broom sent Harry's heart racing.

Draco was fit, he had to admit to himself. More than fit. He was gorgeous in the air, all focussed determination, twirling spins, and graceful manoeuvres. He was masterful. Harry tried to watch the flock, but his eyes kept returning to Draco. Pheo's words came back to him. _You should mate_. He let himself think, for the first time, really let himself think about what that would mean, to _mate_ with Draco and he felt a flush of heat run through him that had nothing to do with the flight. Images filled his mind of stripping Draco, touching pale skin and hard muscle, of moving together. Once he'd started thinking about it, he couldn't stop.

'I knew I was the better flyer,' Draco said as he whipped past, pulling his broom up sharply when he reached Harry.

Harry flushed as he was jolted out of his fantasy.

'What?' he asked, belatedly, hoping what he'd been thinking wasn't written all over him.

Draco rolled his eyes. 'I'm doing all the work, Potter, and you're just sitting here.'

Harry's blush deepened in embarrassment. 'Sorry,' he said.

Draco opened his mouth to say something else, but Harry leaned forward, zipping off towards the flock. He pushed all of his inappropriate thoughts from his mind and just focussed on flying and on the job they had to do. Draco joined him after a moment and they went back to being a seamless team, flying on opposite sides of the flock until the Snidgets started to tire and descend to the flowers to feed.

Harry told himself to get his emotions in check and flew over to join Draco where he hovered in the air above the flock. But when Draco met his eyes, Harry felt his heart lurch in his chest. Draco was windswept and red-cheeked and he looked so transparently _happy_ that Harry wanted, suddenly, to kiss him. His breath caught at the thought and he had to look away. They'd only just become friends. He couldn't - he didn't -

'That was brilliant, Harry,' Draco said, drifting closer so that he was facing Harry and their legs were almost touching. 'I haven't flown like that since school. Thank you.'

The look on Draco's face was so genuine and so filled with joy and satisfaction, that Harry felt himself responding before he could talk himself out of it. He leaned forward and his broom scooted the last little distance alongside Draco's until their thighs were pressed against each other and they were inches apart. Draco caught his breath at the movement, eyes widening in surprise, but he didn't pull away.

Harry hesitated there, feeling the heat of Draco's leg against his and wanting more, but unwilling to take the final step. _Let him come to you._ He couldn't push something on Draco that he didn't want. He'd already had such a shit time of things. He didn't need Harry making his life more complicated.

But then Draco's gaze dropped to Harry's mouth and his eyes went dark with need and the last of Harry's inhibitions disappeared. He reached out to cup the back of Draco's head, pulling him gently forward until their lips met. 

The kiss was soft and slow, and Harry was lost in the feeling of Draco's mouth against his, the glide of his tongue as he licked at Harry's lips, and the soft moan he made as Harry granted him entrance. Draco's hand gripped lightly at his hip and Harry felt them spin slowly in the air as they shifted, moving closer together. He tilted his head, deepening the kiss and feeling arousal flare in him as Draco moaned again.

The sound of a thousand wings bursting into motion at the same time pulled them apart and Harry glanced down with a curse. Something had startled the flock, sending them back into the air. He glanced across at Draco, who was staring at him with a dazed look on his face. Harry grinned at him, feeling like he was fifteen again and dizzy at having his first kiss. He darted in for another quick kiss, unable to help himself, before he pulled his broom around and dove sharply down to head the idiot birds off.

It was another hour before Harry decided the flock had fed sufficiently and they'd herded them back into the containment field. An hour of watching Draco fly more than he watched the birds. Every time their eyes met, Harry felt heat tingle through him. He could still feel the impression of Draco's lips against his, still taste him. He wanted it again, at the same time as he wondered what it meant, and if it was a good idea, and just what else Draco might want to do with him. Draco looked like he was similarly conflicted. There were all sorts of emotions playing over his face whenever Harry caught his gaze. Very clear among them was a sort of yearning need that kept Harry's tension simmering for the rest of the flight.

They landed side by side and Draco dismounted with a groan, dropping to his knees and then laying flat amongst the wildflowers. He put an arm over his eyes, not saying anything.

Harry sat beside him, suddenly unsure what to do. Did Draco regret the kiss? Had it been a mistake? He pulled out some sandwiches from his pocket, unshrinking them. Draco looked over at his movement and Harry offered him one. He took it, still not meeting Harry's eyes and sat up, so that they were looking out over the meadow together.

Pheo came sliding out of Harry's sleeve, looking around with interest.

_Ground now? Hunt_.

_Yes_, Harry told her. _Go hunt_.

Draco was watching him when Harry turned back to him. His expression had changed again. It was back to that same yearning _want_ that he'd had in the air. Harry felt arousal spike through him.

'The way that sounds, when you talk like that,' Draco said, his voice rough. 'You have no idea -'

'No?' Harry asked, heart beating faster at the heat in Draco's eyes.

Draco shook his head and reached forward. Harry went to him willingly, dropping his sandwich into the grass beside them and letting Draco pull them together. This kiss was even better than the last. Harry wondered if both of them were far less shocked that it was actually happening this time. Draco kissed like he never wanted to let go of Harry. It was hard and fast and he made these _sounds_. Merlin, but Harry thought he could go mad from the sounds alone. He shifted, needing to be closer. He wanted to climb into Draco's lap and press down against him. He needed more contact between them.

Draco pulled back at Harry's movement, breathing hard. Harry reached for him again, but Draco shook his head.

'We shouldn't,' he said. Harry heard the words, but everything in him was arguing against them. He wanted to pull Draco hard against him, to rub his scent all over him and claim him. _Mate_, whispered a voice in his mind.

'Why not?' he said, trying to stop the hurt that was rising in him from bleeding into his voice.

Draco closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. 'I'm not saying I don't want to,' he said, looking away from Harry. 'I just - we've only been talking for a week, let alone, this,' he said, gesturing between them. 'It's just - I don't want you to regret this.'

Harry opened his mouth to say he wouldn't. He knew what he wanted, but something about the tense hunch to Draco's shoulders made him reconsider. Was Draco talking about himself? Did _he_ want to make sure he didn't regret this?

Harry forced himself to stop - to think. He took a deep breath of his own.

'Right. Of course. You're right. This is too fast.'

Draco smiled at him, a smile that was tinged with what looked like sadness.

'Eat and then go?' he asked.

'Eat and then go,' Harry agreed.

When they got back to the Ministry, the heatwave was back, stronger than it had been the first time. It was like all of the air had been sucked from the building, leaving only raw heat. It was brutal in its intensity. Draco seemed to be particularly affected by it. When they exited the lift in the Atrium, he shoved his broom at Harry and rushed off, muttering something about 'Fucking fixing this once and for all.'

Harry watched him go, mind in turmoil and still feeling the touch of Draco's mouth against his.

~

_**INTERDEPARTMENTAL MEMORANDUM**_

_TO: H Potter, Senior Handler, Beast Division_

_FROM: H Granger, Something Unspeakable_ _RE: RE: You'll never believe this_

_Harry,_

_I'm so sorry to let you know this, especially after we chatted on the weekend, but we finally managed to recover enough of the Archives that the newer staff record logs could be dried out. I've found the log that shows who was assigned as assistant Personnel for Regulation of Atmospheric Temperature ... it was Malfoy._

_Harry, before you do anything rash, please -_

Harry threw the memo onto the table, glaring at it as he felt his anger rise, mixing with a sick sense of betrayal. That fucking arse. How could he? Harry had thought that after yesterday, maybe something was happening between them. But Draco had been lying to him this entire time. Had probably been laughing at him as he ran rings around him, deliberately leading Harry in the wrong direction. Had the kiss been a part of that? Another ploy to throw him off the scent? The idea that it had sent pain stabbing through his chest and Harry felt nausea rise. He'd spent the whole night tossing and turning, thinking about Draco and what might be happening between them - what he wanted to happen.

But he'd been wrong. He'd been stupidly, stupidly wrong. _Malfoy_ hadn't changed in the slightest. He was still the same two-faced, sneaking, bastard Slytherin.

Harry pushed abruptly up from his desk. Malfoy was supposedly doing some research of his own at the moment to try and find out the origins of the spell. Harry snorted bitterly. Not bloody likely. He was probably figuring out how to make the current heatwave even worse. He hadn't put enough people in hospital with it the first time, so this time he would make sure to succeed. He ignored the small voice in the back of his mind that was asking him _why_ Draco would want to do such a thing.

_Danger?_ Pheo asked in response to his abrupt movements. _Attack?_

_Yes,_ Harry replied. _We have been attacked._

~

It took Harry almost an hour to track Malfoy down, holed up in a little office off the archives level. Even then he almost walked past him, tucked away in the darkness. His anger had grown in the time he stalked around the building, as he thought more and more about the ways he'd imagined Malfoy had started to open up to him, the hopes he'd had that they might be becoming friends ... becoming something more. Harry forced himself not to touch his lips, where he could still feel Malfoy's kiss. It had all been a lie, and that hurt, more than Harry had thought it would.

He shoved the door all the way open so it banged against the wall.

'You fucking _liar_,' he spat, glaring at Malfoy.

Malfoy looked up at him, the smile that had risen to his face dying as he took in Harry's words. He stood, wrapping his arms around himself in a strangely vulnerable gesture.

'Figured it all out, have you, Potter? Made up your mind?' The voice that came out of Malfoy's mouth was the one that Harry remembered from his childhood. It was sneering and cold. Harry felt bitter memories flood back in response to it.

'Why'd you do it, Malfoy?' Harry said, taking a step into the room. 'Are you working with someone? Is this part of a plan to disrupt the Ministry?'

Malfoy barked out a laugh, though there was no humour in it. 'Yes, you've caught me, wannabe Auror Potter. Clearly it was my evil plan to create a beautiful sunny day for everyone for the past week. Such evil, it rivals the Dark Lord, really.'

Harry frowned, feeling a hint of doubt at those words. Was Hermione wrong? Was Malfoy really behind the weather changes? If so, what was the point of creating pleasant weather? The heat was brutal again at the moment, but it had been lovely for days. As he thought that, though, Harry felt a chill of cool air blow over him, and then he saw a flake of snow drift down from the ceiling. They both watched it make its slow way down to the ground, where it rested in between them.

'You're doing this on purpose,' Harry accused.

Malfoy narrowed his eyes. 'I'm bleeding well _not_,' he hissed. 'Not that you would care.'

Harry pulled out his wand. Snow began to fall from the ceiling, the flakes coming thicker and thicker.

'Stop the snow, Malfoy. I'm taking you up to the Aurors so we can put a stop to this.'

Malfoy shook his head, a hard, angry line to his mouth. 'I _can't_,' he spat, and then the storm hit. Harry was blinded instantly by the swirl of snow that came at him from every direction. He clenched his hand around his wand and shouted a stunning spell in Malfoy's direction, but he had no way of knowing if it had been effective. He felt his way forward and encountered the table, but no sign of Malfoy. He cursed and turned away, making for the door. The room was freezing and it took Harry a minute to find the way out. He reached a wall and began to feel his way around it. The snow was still blowing at him from all directions and he could feel his body temperature dropping rapidly. It had been so hot five minutes ago and he was only wearing a t-shirt. He spared a belated thought for Pheo. He had to get out.

A moment later his hand encountered empty space and he stumbled out into the corridor. There was snow here too, Harry noticed, as he looked around, but it was far less vicious than the blizzard that was still swirling inside the room he had just left. Harry didn't bother trying to go back inside. He knew Malfoy wouldn't be in there. At the thought of Malfoy, Harry felt his anger rise again. Malfoy could clearly control the weather and wasn't above using it to hurt people; he had just shown that. Harry felt something inside him shift unhappily. He'd only been getting to know Malfoy these last few days, but nothing about their interactions had made him think Malfoy was still the same cruel boy he had been. This - Harry realised he was disappointed that this was the way Malfoy had turned out after all.

He shook himself and looked down at his thin, cotton shirt. Pheo's outline was clearly visible beneath it

_Are you alright, little one?_ he asked with concern. A sudden temperature drop like that wasn't good for the little snake.

_Cold_, she hissed at him. _Find warmth_.

Harry put his hands on her to try to give her what shelter he could. He cast a warming charm over himself and wasn't surprised when it barely took the chill off the air. Whatever magic Malfoy had managed to harness and twist to his will, it was powerful.

A brief, fleeting memory of being locked in a cupboard with no blankets and imagining himself warm flashed into Harry's head, but he pushed it away with practiced ease. Imagining wasn't going to help him this time.

The snow had spread through the entire Ministry, just like the other weather patterns had. Harry saw people everywhere he went, scrambling for coats and warming charms, putting files inside drawers and sweeping small drifts of snow off their desks. Harry went back to his office first and pulled on a woollen jumper then picked up his heavy black oilskin. He slipped it on and pulled the collar up, then cast the warming charm again.

_Better_, came Pheo's hiss from inside his shirt. But it was quiet and sluggish. Harry frowned, his anger at Malfoy not abating. He was about to start hunting for him when Hermione and Ron came pushing through his office door.

'Harry,' Hermione said, dismay on her face. 'What did you do? I _told_ you to be careful.'

'What?' Harry said, stung. 'I didn't do anything. This was all Malfoy.'

Ron scowled. 'I should've known that git would be behind this. I'd forgotten he even worked here before you started talking about him again. It was probably part of his plan.'

'Everyone did,' Harry said in confirmation, thinking Ron may be right. 'I think he's found some way to make people forget about him. He's hard to track - hard to even _see_, unless you know what you're looking for -'

Hermione cut him off. 'What did you say to him, Harry, that made him change the weather again?'

Harry felt indignation rising. 'Why are you acting like this is my fault. _He's_ the one who's using this magic to disrupt the entire Ministry and make people's lives hell.'

'Harry,' Hermione said, ignoring his words. 'Please. It could be important.'

Harry huffed in annoyance. 'I told him I knew it was him and that he was doing it on purpose and that I was going to take him to the Aurors. Then he bloody did something that trapped me inside a blizzard and ran off.'

Hermione hummed in thought. 'You said he was particularly hard to find the first time, didn't you?' she asked, looking over at Harry. He nodded, remembering the way no one around him had put any significance on the appearance of a skinny figure with crazy hair and flapping black robes.

'I don't think we should go to the Aurors,' Hermione said decisively. She flicked a glance at Ron. 'Sorry, Ron, but I think the more people running around the building looking for him, the less likely we are to find him. He was happy enough to spend time with Harry before this. Maybe we can lure him back out.'

Harry snorted, remembering the anger on Malfoy's face. 'I doubt it, Hermione. You didn't see him. He seemed desperate. I don't think he wants anything to do with me.'

Hermione's gaze sharpened. 'Desperate?' She pursed her lips, sitting on the edge of Harry's desk and pulling her fluffy scarf up higher around her ears. 'We're missing something. We need to figure out how this happened. How did he get linked to the weather spell? Why does it change? Does he change it on purpose?'

Harry ran a hand through his hair, dislodging flakes of snow. 'We've been trying to figure out how it happened for weeks. Now we know. Malfoy is linked to the weather and he makes it change whenever he wants.'

'Are you sure?' Hermione asked. 'He definitely deliberately made it snow while you were with him? Did he use his wand? Did you hear a spell?'

Harry frowned, trying to think. Malfoy hadn't reached for his wand, though Harry had had his out. 'No, I think it just started happening as we were talking. It only got really bad when I tried to stun him.'

'Interesting,' Hermione said. 'There has to be a structure to this. We just need to figure out the pattern.' She brushed some snow off a piece of parchment on Harry's desk and picked up a quill, looking at them both expectantly. 'What weather have we had and what dates has it occurred on?'

~

It had been four days since Hermione had figured it out. Four days of hunting Malfoy through the snowy landscape that was now the Ministry. Harry was still unsure about whether she was right about why this was happening, about whether tracking down Malfoy to confront him - to try and help him, Hermione had said - was the right decision. She couldn't be right about why Malfoy was doing this - there had to be another answer.

Ron had been all for turning the whole thing over to his department to manage. 'We'll find the git and lock him up. The damage bill is over a million Galleons now. A whole bunch of stuff in the Portkey office has been damaged and all the Floo powder reserves have gone haywire from the cold. When we find him, we can toss him in Azkaban like his dad was. It can be a family tradition.'

It had been this that had decided Harry. The thought of Malfoy rotting in a cell in Azkaban sent something twisting through him that was colder than the snow swirling around them. Harry remembered sharing stories, Malfoy's soft fingers against Pheo's scales, that scared-to-trust look in Malfoy's eyes that Harry saw in so many of his creatures. He remembered the look of desperate want in Malfoy's eyes right before their lips had touched.

Hunting him was an exercise in patience and cunning, but in the end it was no harder than trying to find a Thestral. You just needed the right bait.

Harry, according to Hermione, was that bait. He didn't know if he quite believed her, until he started catching glimpses of flapping black robes from the corner of his eye again. Malfoy was still hanging around Magic Reversal. Trying to sabotage their ongoing attempts to fix the weather? Harry thought again about what Hermione had said about _why_ this was happening. He shook his head and made himself obvious. The sightings of Malfoy got more and more frequent, until Harry could tell, when he wasn't quite looking at him, which doors Malfoy was coming and going from and what his routine was. Then it was a simple matter of waiting in the corridor, grabbing Malfoy by the arm and using the Portkey Hermione had created to take them up to the roof. 

Malfoy pulled his arm out of Harry's grip as soon as they landed and took a few steps back, looking around himself suspiciously. His hand dropped off his wand when he realised there was no one else around them. He shook the snow off his robes, shivering slightly in the warmer air. Harry saw with surprise that his skin was paler than usual and his lips had a tinge of blue. He felt his certainty that Malfoy was controlling the weather and doing it to harm people, slip slightly. Was Hermione right after all?

'What do you want, Potter?' Malfoy said, wrapping his arms around himself as though trying to soak in some of the meagre sunlight above them.

'I want to talk,' Harry said. 'About what's going on - what happened the other day.'

Malfoy stared at him, unmoving. The silence stretched between them. Harry couldn't quite figure out how to say what he needed to.

'Are you going to stare at me all day, or do you have something to say?' Malfoy asked, face impassive, though Harry thought he detected a hint of uncertainty.

'Right,' Harry said awkwardly. 'So, Hermione, Ron and I think we may have figured this out. Well, Hermione, mainly. She says she thinks the weather is linked to -' he hesitated, Gods this was awkward. Malfoy would probably just laugh in his face. He took a deep breath and thought of the rainbows and the way they'd appeared when he'd shaken Malfoy's hand. That had to mean something. 'Hermione thinks the weather is linked to how you feel - about me.'

Malfoy didn't respond. He just stared at Harry, thin lipped. Harry stared back, surprise filling him when the instant rejection he had been expecting didn't come.

'It is?' he asked. 'Why... why would how you feel about me influence the weather?'

Malfoy hesitated, then sighed, shoulders slumping. He seemed defeated all of a sudden, as though it was too much effort to keep fighting.

'Because kissing you was the best thing that's happened to me in so long I can't even remember. Is that what you want to hear? I've watched you for years. I watch you on the screens when you're back from the field. Like a creep. Are you happy now, Potter? Have you humiliated me enough?'

Malfoy turned away and Harry stared at him, shock rooting him to the spot. Malfoy had been _into_ him for years? Malfoy watched him from the screens up in the weather dome? He felt like his view of the world and his assumptions about what was going on were shaking and splintering. He fixated on the one thing that made sense.

'How - how did the weather get stuck to your thoughts about me?'

Malfoy turned to look back at him and shrugged, lips twisting bitterly. He seemed like maybe he wanted something more from Harry's reaction, but Harry had no idea what it was.

Malfoy seemed to decide on something. He crossed his arms across his chest. 'I have no idea Potter. It was probably just lonely and wanted someone who felt the same.'

Snow started to swirl around them and Harry eyed it warily. What was the snow doing on the roof, outside of the Ministry's walls? Were Malfoy's emotions changing again? What would they get next?

'What do you mean?' he asked, not comprehending how a spell could be lonely.

Malfoy rolled his eyes, annoyance coming into his stance. 'Do I have to spell it out for you? Lonely. Alone. I have no one, Potter.' Malfoy's face was becoming cold and hard. He looked as though he'd been pushed too far. Harry thought about asking another question about the spell; Malfoy hadn't actually explained _how_ he'd become linked to it, but then he thought about what Malfoy had just said and closed his mouth again. Some of the things Malfoy had just said to him were hard to believe. They were things he never would have expected Malfoy to say to anyone, let alone him. That word flicked into his mind again. _Lonely_.

'What about Parkinson?' Harry said, thinking back to the one name he'd seen mentioned that didn't have a leaving date.

'What about her?' Malfoy asked, tense all of a sudden, as though Harry was about to hex him. Harry hesitated, something wasn't right about that response. 'Your file said -'

'You read my file?' Malfoy said, stepping back a pace as shock and then anger filled his face. His earlier attitude of defeat and vulnerability was gone. It was as though Harry had crossed an invisible line and triggered Malfoy's attack instinct. He wondered if it had been the mention of Parkinson. Malfoy had just said he was attracted to Harry - he'd _kissed_ Harry a few days before - but was he with Parkinson? He felt a mix of emotions flow through him at that thought, foremost was a twisted jealousy. He wanted Malfoy, he realised. Despite everything, Harry wanted him. When had this conversation gotten so out of control?

'You want to know everything about me? You want to make sure the former Death Eater isn't still up to no good? Fine!' Malfoy spat, his voice rising. Harry could feel something changing in the air as Malfoy spoke, a sense of something gathering. He'd fucked up somehow. Harry put his hands out, trying to calm Malfoy down. Malfoy paid no attention to him and Harry heard a rumble in the distance. He couldn't tell if it was coming from the building below them or the air around them. The snowflakes hung around them, suspended as though they were waiting for something.

'I'm sorry, Malfoy,' Harry said, somehow desperately aware that he needed to calm the situation before it got far, far worse. 'I shouldn't have looked in your file. I shouldn't have mentioned Parkinson. I didn't know there was something between you -'

Malfoy took a step closer, teeth bared as he looked Harry in the eye. He let out a hollow laugh that was filled with a pain that tore at Harry, bringing his own dormant grief to life. The air filled with a static charge that made Harry's skin crawl.

'There's nothing between me and Pansy, Potter. There can't be. Do you want to know why?' Malfoy's voice was low and vicious and suddenly Harry very much did _not_ want to know why. The rooftop around them darkened.

'Malfoy,' he said desperately. 'You need to calm down, please -'

Malfoy barked a laugh. 'Calm down, Potter? _Fuck you_. You want to pry into my past? You want to _know_?'

The rumble was louder now. A sharp crack of thunder shook the Ministry beneath their feet and Harry looked up. His alarm rose as he saw black thunderclouds began to fill the sky.

'There's nothing between me and Pansy because she's _dead_, Potter,' Malfoy growled, the expression on his face raw and full of pain. Harry felt the words hit him like blows. 'Pansy has been dead for almost two years because your precious fucking Ministry wouldn't let us bring a specialist in to treat her blood disease.' His voice broke on the last word and the sky flashed as lightning split it apart.

'Malfoy,' Harry said, putting his hands out again. 'Draco. I'm so sorry. I didn't realise -'

A bolt of lightning struck the roof near them, a blinding light that left a scorch mark on the concrete. Harry stepped back a pace.

'Spare me, Potter,' Malfoy said, his eyes cold. 'You wouldn't have cared, even if you had known.' With that, he turned on the spot, Apparating with a crack that was echoed by the storm growing around him.


	6. Thunderbolts and Lightning

Harry stared at the space Draco had Apparated from, his mind reeling from what he had just been told. Draco had no one - not one single person in his life. Draco _liked_ him... had been watching him for years. Draco wasn't messing with the weather on purpose, and really had been trying to fix it. Fuck. He'd really messed this up. Another crack of thunder jolted Harry out of his thoughts and he looked around, concern running through him as he took in the way the sky had darkened. Lightning forked a second later and then thunder again, sounding like it was simultaneously below him and all around him.

This shouldn't be possible. Draco's ability to affect the weather should have no impact outside of the walls of the Ministry. Hermione had been clear about the limitations of the spell. But the evidence was all around him. The sky had been cloudless minutes earlier.

'Shit,' he said, looking at the way the storm was spreading. 'Shit, shit, shit.'

Pheo poked her head out of the neck of his oilskin.

_Mate is angry_, she hissed. _Calm him_.

Harry wanted to reply that Draco wasn't his mate, but he'd spent all week trying to forget the feeling of Draco's warmth against him, the way his mouth quirked when he was teasing Harry, the way he had burrowed his way into Harry's life like he'd always been there.

_He_ has_ always been there_, a voice whispered in his mind. _You just didn't see him_.

Harry looked up as the sky split apart with another flash of lightning, followed by a boom of thunder that shook the buildings around him. He wondered what was going through Draco's mind, that he was generating _this_ much anger. The thought that Draco could be in danger suddenly hit him and he looked back at the sky, dread filling him. Draco hadn't suffered any effects from the other weather changes, had he? Harry didn't know. He regretted again the way he'd rushed in to confrontation, rather than trying to talk to him reasonably.

An image came into Harry's mind, of seeing Draco in the Hogwarts bathrooms, anguish on his face. He'd pulled his wand rather than opening his mouth. He'd behaved exactly the same way now as he had almost ten years ago. This was why he worked with creatures. He didn't fuck things up with them, the way he did with people.

Harry began to feel sick as he thought about the power Draco must be pulling to generate the storm. He wanted to chase him - to find him and help him put a stop to this. But he had no idea where Draco had gone. Looking at the sky gave him no clues. The mass of black clouds had spread in every direction. He felt panic rising in him and couldn't seem to calm it. The lightning was getting more intense, striking almost every minute now. The thunder was turning into one booming rumble.

Harry jerked around at the feeling of a hand on his arm. Hermione and Ron were standing behind him, Ron looking around wide-eyed and Hermione with a look of concern on her face.

'What happened?' she yelled, to be heard over the sound of the storm.

Harry tried to think of how to describe it. Everything had happened so quickly.

'Draco's angry - furious. I think - I don't think he has any control over the what the weather does.'

'We have to find him,' Hermione said, looking up at the sky, her concern deepening. 'I've been doing some more research. I think the weather patterns reinforce his emotions. It's drawing on his magic to create a loop. The longer it goes on, the angrier he will get.'

Harry looked around with worry. He didn't even know where to start.

'Something needs to jolt him out of it,' Hermione yelled. 'Something strong enough to change his mood.'

'We need to split up,' Harry said, trying to think. 'Try places he might be - the Manor? Ron, where does he live?' Harry realised as he spoke that he barely knew anything about Draco's life. All of their conversations had been around Harry's job and Harry's friends. He cursed himself. 'Send me a Patronus if you find him.'

'Where are you going to start?' Hermione asked.

Harry wracked his brain. There was literally no one he could ask. Suddenly how alone Draco was really hit home for Harry, and he felt even worse about jumping to conclusions and pushing him away instead of reaching out to help him.

Then an idea hit him and he almost smiled in relief.

'I'm going to go get my broom and get above the storm,' he yelled. 'I might be able to see where it's centred if I'm high enough. It works for hunting Thunderbirds.'

Ron reached out and put a hand on his arm. 'Are you sure?' He looked at the lightning ripping the sky apart with worry written across his face. 'It looks bloody dangerous. Is Malfoy worth it?'

Harry felt his answer deep inside himself before he'd even thought about it. Draco had always been a part of his life one way or another. Harry couldn't push him into this and then abandon him to it.

'He absolutely is,' Harry said, meeting Ron's eyes with confidence. He reached into his coat and pulled Pheo out from where she was huddled around his neck.

_You need to stay with the Gentle One_, he told her, struggling to be heard. She twisted frantically around him for a moment, head moving in all directions, then Hermione opened a pocket in her robes and Pheo slid straight in. Hermione put a hand in after her, to reassure her.

'I'll keep her safe,' Hermione said, pulling him in for a quick hug. Harry hugged her back then he pulled away, giving both of them a wave as he turned to jog back inside for his broom.

The storm was just as intense inside and the corridors were lit up with flickering lightning. Everywhere Harry looked, people were running frantically, evacuating the building. There were scorch marks on the walls and the building was shaking around him from the sound of the thunder.

Harry grabbed his broom then sprinted back to the lift, opening the door to the roof, kicking off the ground and making for the mass of clouds as quickly as he could. He knew from past experience that getting through it would be hell, but as soon as he was above it he would have a much better idea of what was going on.

Lightning speared through the sky beside him and Harry gritted his teeth, laying flat along the handle of his broom and pulling it up hard so he was pointing to the sky. He corkscrewed his way up until suddenly he was inside the storm and everything was dark. He could feel the wetness inside the clouds soak through his clothes instantly. Flashes of lightning lit up eerie shapes around him and the movement of the air buffeted him. He squinted against the elements and tightened his grip on his broom. It felt like an eternity before he finally broke through. Abruptly he was flying in sunlight again and the air was unmoving around him. Harry hung above the roiling mass of clouds for a moment as he caught his breath. He wiped his wet hair out of his eyes and surveyed the vista below him.

The storm was huge, easily covering all of London. He couldn't see far enough to see if it had a centre, and he couldn't fly much higher without restricting his air supply. He would have to check each direction, to try and see if he could find any clues that would lead him to where Draco had gone. He took a deep breath, steeled himself and began to fly. He moved across the cloud mass quickly, leaning as hard into the flight as he could to get maximum speed. The further north he flew, the more the clouds seemed to be thinning out. As soon as he noticed, he changed direction, heading back towards the west. He cut back across the storm rather than trying to skirt its edges. Wherever Draco was, he would be in the middle of it.

He flew for another twenty minutes before he gave up on his westerly direction and cut to the south. He leaned harder and harder into the flight, forcing it to push him through the air faster and faster. The further he travelled, the more the clouds started to boil and swirl. Harry felt anticipation rise in him. He was headed the right way. He knew it. He tried to ignore the way the storm was growing even stronger the closer he got to its centre. Draco would be alright. He had to be. He distracted himself by trying to figure out where he was and what he would find when he dropped back through the clouds. He thought about how long and how fast he'd been flying for and the rough directions he'd travelled.

_No,_ Harry thought to himself as he came up with the answer. _Surely not_. But it made a strange kind of sense. Harry visualised the meadow filled with wildflowers that they'd spent the day in just five days ago. It felt like a lifetime. The idea that Draco had gone there, out of all the places he could have gone gave Harry hope that he would be able to get through to him. Surely something in Draco still wanted Harry to be a part of his life. Harry tried to ignore what he would do if that wasn't the case.

He knew when he'd reached the centre of the storm. A column of clouds shot up into the air in front of him, twisting and surging, like a living beast. Harry took a deep breath as he looked at it. He could do this. He'd done plenty of things that were just as dangerous as this. _You walked into a forest to die_, a voice inside him reminded him. Harry smiled grimly at the storm, and then he pulled his broomstick down and dived.

Re-entering the storm was like flying through the ocean. The clouds crashed and roiled around him, throwing him through the air. There was an almost constant surge of lightning, blast after blast ripping the air apart. The thunder boomed through his body like it was a part of him.

Harry tightened his grip and focussed on down. That was all he had to do, get down and get through this.

When he finally broke through he felt relief and fear rush through him in equal measure. He was in the field, like he'd thought. He could make out a figure, far below. Draco was standing there, arms wide, face tilted to the sky. Harry dove towards him, jumping off his broom a few paces away and stopping, uncertain about the best way to approach him. He took in Draco's appearance, eyes closed, face tilted to the sky. As he did so, he realised the lightning wasn't striking near him. There was a ring about fifty metres wide surrounding Draco, burnt into the grass. Seeing that, seeing his control over the storm, Draco reminded Harry suddenly of a Thunderbird, as though the power and glory of the elements was channelled through him. He was lit up by it, his robes whipping around him and his arms thrown wide. He looked wild and free and so very at home inside his own skin. He was magnificent. Harry felt his breath catch at the power and majesty in front of him. He wanted Draco, suddenly, with an intensity that surprised him. 

'Draco,' Harry called, in a break between the clashes of thunder. Somehow, Draco heard him. He opened his eyes, lowering his arms as he looked at Harry. His eyes were dark and still filled with anger. Harry could see the fury of the storm crackling in them and he remembered Hermione's words.

_I think the weather patterns reinforce his emotions. It's drawing on his magic to create a loop._

Harry took a step closer, hands out in a manner meant to soothe him.

'Hey,' Harry said striving to be heard over the storm. He tried to put reassurance into his stance, as though he were calming a real Thunderbird. 'Hey now, it's okay. There's no need for this. I'm sorry.'

Draco's mouth twisted at his words, his look one of clear disbelief. Lightning struck again, closer this time, inside the circle surrounding them. Draco paid it no heed, but Harry felt dread spear through him. The storm was dangerous. Draco's magic was feeding it more and more energy and eventually, it was going to hurt one of them.

He had to find some way to get through to him. He'd always been rubbish with words. That was why he liked working with creatures so much. He didn't have to say anything. He just had to _do_.

Harry felt that same magnetic pull to Draco, his attraction enhanced, rather than diminished by the danger Draco posed. A thought came to him - something Hermione had said about the link between Draco's moods and Harry's actions. He raised his hands, slowly, to the neck of his oilskin and then he undid the top button. The storm continued to roar around them. Harry slipped the next button out of its hole and then the next.

He felt slightly ridiculous, and his actions were having no impact on the weather around him, but Draco was watching him, and that had to be something. He moved his hands lower, undoing the buttons with casual indifference. Something told him he needed to make sure he didn't spook Draco - if he became afraid of the storm, who knew what would happen to his control of it.

Draco's eyes were still on him as Harry pushed his oilskin back off his shoulders and shrugged out of it, letting it fall to the ground. He didn't hesitate, moving next to the hem of his shirt. He pulled it up his chest, hope rising in him as the thunder paused, just for an instant. He slowed his movements, letting Draco see his body as he pulled the shirt over his head and then let it drop to the ground.

Harry could feel himself getting hard, and he realised he was enjoying this. Despite the storm, despite everything, he enjoyed Draco's eyes on him. He let a bit of that enjoyment show in his face, smiling slightly at Draco when his eyes lifted from Harry's chest, back to his face. Harry might have been wrong, but some of the fury seemed to have faded from Draco's gaze.

Harry kicked one of his boots off, then the other, and then dropped his hands to the buckle of his jeans, waiting there for a moment. Draco's eyes were glued to his hands again and Harry took a quick glance around. The lightning was hitting less often. He could see a pause between strikes now. He grinned and then pulled his belt open, letting his fingers trail down for just a moment, to cup himself through the thick fabric. He almost moaned at how good it felt. Fuck, but he was hard. Draco's need was written all over his face now and seeing it was making it almost impossible for Harry to focus on stopping the weather, when all he wanted to focus on was getting Draco's body against his.

Harry palmed himself again and the storm died completely, just for an instant. The thunder stopped, as though it had never been. Harry thumbed his button open, then pulled down his zip, the sound loud in the suddenly quiet clearing.

He shifted his hips slightly as he pulled his jeans down over his arse and he didn't miss the way Draco's tongue flicked out, wetting his lips at the sight. It gave Harry the confidence to cup himself again, rub his palm against his hard length, through the thin material of his pants.

Draco took half a step closer, almost as though he hadn't meant to and Harry let his jeans fall to the ground. He glanced up again. The lightning had stopped completely now, although the clouds were still looming over them.

Harry stepped forward, out of his jeans, closer to Draco, and let his hands slide over his hips, dipping one into the front of his pants to grip around his cock. He let his eyes slip almost closed and bit his lip as he watched Draco watching him.

'Take them off,' Draco said, his first words since Harry had landed in the clearing. His voice was husky and Harry felt the sound go through him. His cock jumped in his hand and he moaned as he squeezed it. He pulled his hand back out and then slid his thumbs under the band of his pants. He eased them off his hips slowly, teasingly. His cock sprang up, slapping against his stomach and Draco licked his lips again. Harry had to force himself not to step forward and pull Draco hard against him. _Slowly_, he reminded himself. _Always slowly_.

He let his pants slide down his legs and then stepped forward again, so that he could reach out and touch Draco if he wanted to. Draco's eyes were fixed to him, taking in every detail of his body in a slow, sensual appraisal that Harry felt almost like a touch. He shivered under the regard, his cock twitching, and Draco took the final step towards him.

Draco reached up, running his fingers across Harry's chest, grazing against one nipple and leaving it hard and tingling. Then he traced over Harry's arm and down to his fingers, twining their hands together for just a moment before he pulled them free. Draco rubbed his fingertips over Harry's stomach and down to the curls nesting at the base of his cock. He pulled lightly at them and Harry's hips jerked forward a fraction. He felt himself react, precome leaking from him, but he couldn't bring himself to feel embarrassed. He'd never been so turned on in his life.

Somehow, Draco's slow exploration of his body, as he stood there, fully clothed, while Harry was naked and on display, was incredibly arousing.

Draco's hand hovered over Harry's cock, so close that he could feel the heat of it. His whole focus narrowed to that almost-touch. Then Draco looked into Harry's eyes and Harry forced his attention away from his cock.

'What are you doing here, Potter?' Draco asked and Harry tried to hide his pain at the anger that was still present in Draco's voice. Draco wanted his, but he was clearly still hurting from Harry's accusations and from whatever emotions he'd stirred up with his talk of Parkinson.

_Be honest,_ he reminded himself. _Build trust_.

'I'm sorry,' he said, a repeat of his words from earlier. 'I had no right to read your file and to assume I knew things about you. I shouldn't have accused you of doing something to the weather without talking to you first.'

Draco dropped his hand and Harry felt the absence of the almost-touch like a blow. Draco's face almost looked disappointed and he went to turn away.

'Wait,' he said, needing to get this right, needing to make sure he told Draco everything. Draco raised an eyebrow, the rest of his face impassive. It wasn't as much as Harry had hoped, but it was better than nothing.

'I came -' he said, taking a deep breath. 'I came after you because I was afraid for you. I didn't want you to get hurt.' Something in Draco's face shuttered, as though that wasn't the answer he'd been looking for either. Harry forced himself to go on. Why was it so much harder to be brave when it was words, not actions?

'And - and I like you,' he said. 'A lot.' Draco glanced down at Harry's still-hard cock with a look of faint amusement on his face. Harry took heart from that. Draco was still with him.

'Not like that,' Harry said, not wanting Draco to think it was purely physical. Then he realised the ridiculousness of what he'd just said, denying he was attracted to Draco while standing in front of him naked and aroused. He grinned and Draco smiled at him in return. It was a small smile, but it was there.

'I mean, yes like that. Definitely like that. I haven't been able to get you out of my head, even when I was mad at you.' Harry took a deep breath, forcing himself to slow down - to get this right.

'More than that though. You're different,' he said, reaching out to take Draco's hand. 'You're fun to be around and funny, and you're caring and I - I just like being with you.'

Draco seemed to hesitate for a long moment, but then his fingers tightened around Harry's. 'You're okay, I guess,' he said, a hint of a smirk hovering on his lips.

Harry snorted a laugh and pulled Draco to him, unable to stop himself from seeking out the kiss he couldn't stop thinking about, even when he'd felt betrayed by Draco.

Draco's mouth opened to Harry's immediately and his arms went around him, slipping down Harry's naked back to cup his arse and pull him against his body.

Harry groaned at the feeling of Draco's hands on him and he reached up to tug at the clasp of his robes.

'You have too many clothes on,' he mumbled between kisses. Draco hummed in agreement and shrugged his robes off his shoulders. Harry fumbled at the buttons on his shirt until Draco broke their kiss with a scoff and stepped back to slip each button deftly through its hole and then pull the shirt off himself. He hesitated for a moment, not letting it slide off his left arm and with a start, Harry realised why.

He stepped back into Draco's space and tugged at the shirt gently. Draco let it go and Harry looked at the faded red of the skull and snake branded into his arm. He ran his fingers lightly over it and Draco shivered. The air around them turned colder and a light mist began to sweep across them. Harry looked at Draco with a frown. 'It's okay,' he said. 'I knew you had this.' He rubbed his fingers over it again. 'It doesn't define who you are now.'

Draco nodded, but the mist remained, tickling against Harry's bare skin and making him shiver. He leaned in to kiss Draco again, slow and sweet, to reassure him that he _knew_. Harry knew and he wanted Draco anyway. 

He brought his hands up to Draco's waist, feeling the smoothness of his skin, the heat of his body. He ran his hands up higher, revelling in the lean strength of Draco's body. Then he frowned, stopping and pulling back to look down as he felt something different under his fingers. For a moment he looked at the pale, shiny lines of smooth skin crisscrossing Draco's body, almost indistinguishable from his skin, except for the way they felt. Harry felt a second of confusion before realisation hit him. _He_ had done this. He had left these scars across Draco's body. He suddenly wanted to be sick and he closed his eyes, taking a deep, shaky breath. Draco let out a faint noise of protest, a noise that sounded hurt and vulnerable and was quickly cut off. He stepped back and was reaching for his shirt when Harry opened his eyes again.

'Hey,' Harry said, pulling him back upright so they were facing each other. 'I'm sorry. I didn't realise. And I'm sorry for what I did - so sorry.' Draco still looked uncertain, as though he wasn't sure whether Harry was going to reject him. Harry stepped closer, unsure what to do but knowing he didn't want Draco to leave. This could be their only chance. He couldn't let it end with Draco walking away from him.

'We've both made a mess of things, haven't we?' Harry said, tracing the scars with his fingertips. He could feel guilt running through him, shame following it, mixing up inside him. The mist thickened around them until it began to fall as droplets of rain. Draco shook his head and leaned in to kiss Harry again.

'Don't,' he said softly. 'I've been thinking about this for too long for us to mess it up with all this rubbish.' He pushed Harry's hands firmly against his skin. 'It's fine. I'm fine. What you did -' he paused for a moment and then quirked his lips into a smile. 'It doesn't define who you are.'

Harry couldn't help but laugh, even if it was a little wet sounding.

'Git,' he said, before he leaned in to kiss Draco again. If he couldn't tell him he was sorry, he could show him.

He dropped his hands to Draco's trousers, getting them undone, before he paused again, looking at Draco. 'Is this okay?' he asked, knowing his urgent need had faded and wondering if Draco needed to stop and to process. 'Do you still want to?' he asked, his hands resting lightly on Draco's hips.

'Harry,' Draco said, his tone dead serious. 'If you don't touch my cock in the next two minutes, I will not be responsible for what the weather does to you.'

Harry laughed and leaned in to kiss Draco, feeling his want stir back to life as he pushed Draco's trousers off, taking his pants with them. He paused for just a moment, to lay Draco's robes out on the grass and put up an umbrella charm.

'Anytime you want to turn the rain off would be great, thanks,' Harry said as he pushed Draco gently onto his back and straddled him, leaning down to kiss him again, deep and slow.

Draco huffed a laugh into his mouth. The rain didn't stop but it eased slightly.

Harry leaned in for another kiss and another, getting lost in the feeling of Draco's body under his. His erection had flagged while they talked, but Draco was making these lovely little sounds and Harry could feel him beginning to get aroused as well. He broke reluctantly away from Draco's mouth to kiss his jaw and then down his neck. Harry breathed him in, rubbing his face against the soft skin. Draco's hands came up to his hips and he thrust lightly against Harry, the feeling of his hardness sliding against Harry's distracting him for a moment. He ground down and Draco gasped, throwing his head to the side. 

Harry kissed his neck, nuzzling into it again before he opened his mouth, biting down lightly. Draco moaned at the sensation, his hips thrusting again. Harry licked the spot and then rubbed his cheek against it again. He ignored the voice inside himself that whispered, _Scent marking_. He kissed Draco's collar bone next, licking his way across it. Then he found the top of one of the scars with his lips. Draco tensed for a moment but relaxed as Harry kissed, licked and sucked his way down it. It ended near Draco's hip and Harry nipped lightly at the skin there, nuzzling his face into Draco's groin, revelling in the smooth softness of Draco's cock against his cheek. Draco gasped again and thrust lightly, as though asking Harry to touch him. 

Harry ignored the request for the moment, crawling back up Draco's body to kiss him quickly. Draco looked dazed, lips red and eyes heavy lidded.

'You're incredible,' Harry murmured and then he went back to his task. He found every single scar on Draco's chest and tended to them one by one, giving him the apology he'd never realised he needed to say. By the time he was done, Draco was writhing beneath him and they were both breathing heavily. Harry was aching from how much he wanted Draco. It had never been like this - not with anyone else he'd been with.

Draco lay beneath him, looking up at him, as though wondering what was next. Harry wondered for a moment how much experience he'd had with any of this.

Draco seemed to sense that hesitation. 'I'm not a virgin, Harry,' he said, something in his face telling Harry that he wasn't quite as confident as he was claiming to be either.

'I don't want to have sex,' Harry said. 'Not more than just this, anyway,' he clarified as he reached down to wrap his hand around Draco's cock at last, giving it a long, slow stroke. Draco hissed and tipped his head back, fists bunching in the robes spread out beneath him as Harry continued what he was doing, rubbing up and down Draco's shaft, watching him to see what he liked.

Draco liked it all, as it turned out. He especially liked it when Harry shifted forward and lined their cocks up, taking both in his hand and leaning over so he could kiss Draco again as they thrust against each other. Draco's hands were all over him and he was making a steady stream of noises and muttered words in between kisses. Harry caught 'Potter' and 'mine' and 'so good. Fuck so good.'

Harry could feel his own arousal building and he tried to hold it off. He wanted Draco to get there first. He wanted to see him come undone, see him totally open himself up. Everything about him was intoxicating as he got lost in what they were doing. Harry moved his fist faster, gritting his teeth against his need to come, but then Draco stiffened against him, crying out and Harry felt the hot splash of his release against his skin. The thought of it - Draco marking him that way - and the sight of him, head thrown back and face transformed by pleasure, tipped Harry over the edge. He felt his own orgasm hit and he cried out as he slowed his movements, spending himself over Draco's stomach.

He leaned forward, breathing hard as he bent his head to touch his forehead to Draco's. After a moment Draco opened his eyes, still breathing heavily as he looked up into Harry's face. There was a softness in his eyes that Harry had never seen before. It spoke of trust and maybe something more. Something he was afraid to look too closely at, in case it disappeared. Harry felt the warmth of it fill him and he closed the distance between them to kiss Draco, slowly and sweetly.

Afterwards, they lay naked together, side by side in the grass and Harry looked up at the light grey clouds drifting above them, as the storm clouds continued to dissipate. He turned to Draco, a smile on his lips. 'If you've finished being a drama queen, could we have some sunshine, do you think?'

Draco concentrated for a moment and a beam of light speared down from the clouds, bathing Harry in delicious warmth. Harry looked at him, surprised by his growing control over the weather.

'Is that pretentious enough for you, Golden Boy?' Draco asked, his cutting tone belied by the way his eyes roamed over Harry's body, lit up by the sun.

'Perfect,' Harry said, abandoning his thoughts about just when Draco had started to develop control over the weather. Instead he reached out, pulling Draco on top of him and catching his mouth for a kiss.


	7. Here Comes the Sun

_Day 721_

_Hey Pans,_

_Sorry, I know it's been a while. Been a little distracted, I guess you could say. Things with Harry are good. Really good. Yes, I call him Harry now. I only call him Potter when I want to get under his skin ... I think it turns him on to be honest. And no, I will not give you details, you nosey bint (the sex is amazing)._

_It's strange being back in old Aunt Walburga's place. You remember that one time you visited with me? She was that crazy one who said you had wide hips and would carry good pureblood children? Anyway, Harry's done the place up. It's much less creepy and more zoo/ animal hospital. Luckily the ability to simultaneously create individual climates for six different types of creature comes in handy for this sort of setup._

_Anyway, things are good and I wanted you to know. I'm happy. It's coming up to two years, you know, since the day you left. I asked Harry to come to the cemetery with me to mark it next week. Feel free to haunt him if you object. But I didn't want to be alone this year. And he gets it. He knows what it's like. _

_I miss you, Pans. Every day._

_D_

Draco tapped the letter with his wand to seal it, then ran his fingers lightly over the parchment before he sighed, picking it up and placing it gently on top of the hundreds of others inside the case in front of him. 

He looked down at the picture propped up against the side of the case. It was still - taken on a Muggle polaroid camera and handed to him out of the blue. It showed him and Pansy, years ago, after school, after the War, and when they had been trying to figure themselves and the world out.

They were standing on top of Southwark Cathedral and it had just started to rain. Pansy had her arms spread wide and her face tilted to the sky. She looked happy and free. 

Draco felt drops of rain patter softly around him as his mood shifted. A moment later, Harry was there, a hand on his shoulder, thumb brushing lightly over Draco's neck as he looked at the photo. He didn't say anything, just bent down to press a kiss against Draco's hair. Draco smiled feeling Harry's presence wrap around him like a calming draught. 

Harry shifted and Draco glanced up to see him looking out the window, a soft smile on his face.

'Look, here comes the sun.'

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt was:  
While exploring the nooks and crannies of the Ministry, Harry stumbles across the office of one Draco Malfoy, who controls the magical weather for the Ministry of Magic building.  
Draco's mood influences his decisions about the weather. Harry influences Draco's mood.
> 
> I took a few liberties, but I hope I still delivered.
> 
> Minor character death  
A few died, Narcissa, Lucius, and old weather man Walter. But the significant one is that Pansy is not alive for the duration of this story, although Draco writes her letters as though she is
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing this. If you liked it, please drop me a comment. I'll reply as soon as the fest is over!


End file.
